X 


LIBRARY  OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 

AT  URBANA-CHAMPAIGN 

IN  MEMORY  OF 

STEWART  S.  HOWE 

JOURNALISM  CLASS  OF  1928 


STEWART  S.  HOWE  FOUNDATION 


B 
S2553sn 
1920 


I.H.S. 


Captain  John  Baptiste  Saucier 

At  Fort  Chartres  in  the  Illinois 


1751—1763 


By 

JOHN  F.  SNYDER,  M.  D. 
Ex-President  of  the  Illinois  State  Historical  Society 


Reprinted  from  the 

Transactions  of  the  Illinois  State  Historical  Society 

for  the  year  1919. 


CONTENTS. 


PREFACE. 

Chapter  I. 
The  Sauciers  in  France. 

Chapter  II. 
The  Boyhood  and  Education  of  Jean  Baptiste  Saucier. 

Chapter  III. 
Fort   Chartres   in   the   Illinois. 

Chapter  IV. 
Social   Life   at  the   Fort. 

Chapter  V. 
Rescue  of  the  Commandant's  Daughter. 

Chapter  VI. 
Early  Navigation  of  the  Mississippi. 

Chapter  VII. 
A  Second  Visit  to  New  Orleans. 

Chapter  VIII. 
A  Brush  With  Southern  Indians. 

Chapter  IX. 
Death  of  the  Commandant's  Daughter. 

Chapter  X. 
Defeat  of  Washington   at  Fort  Necessity. 

Chapter  XI. 
In  New  Orleans  Again. 

Chapter  XII. 
The  Mysterious  Woman  in  Black. 

Chapter  XIII. 
A  Miraculous  Escape  From  Death. 

Chapter  XIV. 
Marriage  of  Captain  Saucier. 

Chapter  XV. 
Surrender  of  Fort  Chartres  to  the  English. 


2i: 

PREFACE. 


Every  intelligent  man  should  learn  all  he  can  of  his  ancestry,  and 
transmit  that  knowledge  to  his  descendents,  in  order  that  the  traits  and 
tendencies  of  the  stock,  if  elevating,  may  be  emulated ;  if  degrading,  may 
be  corrected  and  improved. 

This  view  prompted  the  writing  of  the  biographical  sketch,  here  pre- 
sented, of  Captain  John  Baptiste  Saucier  of  the  French  Army,  who 
assisted  in  designing  the  plans  of  the  second  Fort  Chartres,  in  the  Illi- 
nois, and  superintended  its  construction. 

Since  the  first  edition  of  this  little  work  was  published,  in  1901, 
diligent  investigation  of  the  Saucier  family  history  has  resulted  in  the 
discover}-  of  new  facts,  and  elimination  of  several  errors  in  the  original 
text.  This  revised  edition  is  therefore  believed  to  be  substantially  cor- 
rect, and  an  inconsiderable,  but  reliable,  contribution  to  the  early  his- 
tor}^  of  Illinois. 

Documentary  evidences  verifying  many  of  the  statements  herein 
related,  were  lost  nearly  a  century  a^o  in  the  destruction  by  fire  of  his 
son's  residence. 

The  known  facts,  and  family  legends,  concerning  Captain  Saucier, 
have  been  collected,  in  this  narrative  form,  by  one  of  his  descendents, 
V*  to  perpetuate  the  name  and  history  of  a  brave  soldier  and  honorable, 

ij^  upright  citizen. 

V  Virginia,  III.  J.  F.  S. 


218 


CHAPTER  I. 

•  The  Sauciers  in  France. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  Eighteenth  Centiir}-  Monsieur  Jean  Beau- 
mont Saucier — or  Saussier^  as  the  family  name  was  then  spelled* — was 
a  prominent  and  prosperous  merchant  in  the  quaint  old  city  of  Orleans, 
in  France.  He  was  descended  from  a  line  of  merchant  ancestors,  who 
had  transacted  business  at  the  same  place,  the  eldest  son  succeeding  his 
father,  from  time  immemorial.  He  had  been  carefully  trained  in  the 
mercantile  art  by  his  father,  Beaumont  Saucier,  who  had,  on  retiring 
from  business,  a  few  years  before,  transferred  to  him  the  real  estate, 
goods,  credits  and  good  will  of  the  old  establishment. 

Jean  Beaumont  Saucier  was  then,  in  1700  about  twenty-five  years 
of  age;  was  happily  married,  and  in  the  enjoyment  of  life's  chief  bless- 
ings, in  the  venerable  family  home  situated  midway  between  the  house 
of  Joan  D'Arc  and  the  ancient  city  wall.  His  only  brother,  Felix  Xavier 
Saucier,  a  few  years  his  senior,  had  chosen  the  military  profession,  and 
was  then  an  officier  in  the  Royal  Guards  at  Versailles. 

In  the  passing  of  time,  with  its  swiftly  shifting  scenes  and  ceaseless 
changes,  two  sons  were  born  to  Monsieur  and  Madame  Jean  Beaumont 
Saucier;  the  first  receiving  the  name  of  Louis  Beaumont  Saucier,  and 
the  other  that  of  Paul.  The  thrifty  young  merchant  was  then  blessed 
with  possession  of  all  the  choicest  gifts  of  life — health,  success  in  busi- 
ness, friends  in  abundance,  and  angelic  wife  and  two  promising  children. 
The  world  seemed  to  him  radiant  with  joy,  and  the  future  full  of  buoyant 
hope.  But  suddenly  a  deep  shadow  fell  upon  his  bright  and  happy  home ; 
caused  by  one  of  those  subtle  strokes  of  Fate,  or  inexorable  Law,  so  diffi- 
cult to  reconcile  with  generally  accepted  doctrines  of  Omniscient  mercy 
and  goodness.  By  an  accidental  fall,  down  a  tortuous  stairway  in  the 
rambling  old  mansion,  the  young  wife  and  mother  received  injuries  that 
caused  her  death  in  a  few  hours. 

M.  Saucier  was  almost  distracted  by  the  shock,  and  for  a  long  time 
was  broken  down  by  the  intensity  of  his  grief.  But  time  compassionately 
assuages  the  pangs  of  sufi'ering  it  inflicts,  and  mitigates  the  acutest  sor- 
row. The  terrible  blow  fully  tested  the  young  merchant's  power  of  men- 
tal endurance;  but  he  survived  it,  finding  solace  in  the  care  and  educa- 
tion of  his  children,  and  preparing  them  for  the  great  battle  of  1)  :'e  before 
them. 

The  elder  of  the  two,  Louis  Beaumont,  destined  to  succeed  his 
father,  and  perpetuate  the  Saucier  mercantile  house,  received,  at  Paris, 
as  thorough  business  training  as  was  at  that  time  practicable  to  obtain. 
Paul,  who  was  gifted  with  his  mother's  gentle  disposition,  in  course  of 
time,  was  educated  for  the  Church;  and,  after  taking  holy  orders,  was 

*  See  Note  A  in  the  Appendix.     The  French  descendents  of  this  family  retain 
the   original   spelling  of  the   name — Saussier — pronounced   So-se-a. 


219 

installed  as  coadjutor,  or  assistant  priest,  in  the  old  Cathedral  of  his 
native  city. 

The  time  at  length  approached  when  M.  Saucier,  according  to 
ancient  family  custom,  would  retire  from  the  active  management  of  his 
business,  and  relinquish  it  to  his  son,  Louis.  The  thought  of  leaving  the 
old  homestead  where  he  was  born,  hallowed  by  so  many  tender  and  en- 
dearing memories,  cast  a  shadow  of  melancholy  upon  his  mind,  and 
induced  a  feeling  of  indescribable  lonesomeness.  He  had  purchased  a 
little  estate  a  few  miles  from  Orleans,  and  fitted  it  up  to  suit  his  tastes, 
contemplating  passing  there  the  remainder  of  hig  days.  This  change  of 
residence  removed  him  but  a  few  miles  from  the  city;  yet,  it  separated 
him  for  the  greater  part  of  time  from  his  sons,  and  isolated  him  in  the 
silence  and  solitude  of  the  country,  with  servants  as  his  only  associates. 
This  condition,  contrasted  with  his  former  active  life  on  the  busy,  noisy 
street,  with  genial,  pleasant  surroundings,  seemed  to  him  intolerable,  and 
suggested — as  is  often  the  case  with  old  widowers — the  desirability  of 
securing  a  sympathetic  companion  to  share  his  elegant  .retirement. 

While  revolving  the  propriety  of  this  momentous  step  in  his  mind 
an  amusing  incident  occurred  that  dispelled  any  doubts  or  misgivings 
he  may  have  entertained  on  the  subject;  and,  like  a  stroke  of  magic, 
relieved  him  of  all  ennui  and  despondency.  For  years  horseback  riding 
had  been  his  favorite  exercise  for  the  promotion  of  health,  and  relaxation 
from  long  hours  of  mental  and  physical  business  drudgery.* 

Mounted  on  his  trusty  horse,  one  fine  evening  in  early  summer,  he 
cantered  out  beyond  the  limits  of  the  old  town,  as  was  his  custom,  and 
turned  his  course  into  the  great  forest,  preserved  there  for  ages  in  its 
primitive  wildness,  to  enjoy  a  view  of  nature  in  one  of  its  grand  and 
majestic  forms.  As  he  rode  on  he  became  so  absorbed  in  the  freshness 
and  fragrance  of  the  budding  and  blooming  shrubs,  and  the  wide-spread- 
ing leafy  branches  of  the  stately  old  trees,  the  chatteririg  of  squirrels 
and  songs  of  birds,  and,  perhaps,  in  deep  reveries  of  more  tender  kind, 
that  he  lost  all  note  of  time,  direction  and  distance,  and  wandered  on, 
along  by-ways  and  obscure  paths,  until  the  light  of  day  was  fast  dis- 
appearing. Great  banks  of  black  clouds  now  floated  up  from  the  south 
and  overspread  the  sky;  and,  soon,  intense  darkness  ushered  in  the 
approaching  night. 

He  had  often  before  ridden  through  the  forest,  and  was  familiar 
with  the  windings  of  its  roads;  but  now,  unable  to  see  any  object  to 
guide  his  course,  he  realized  the  fact  that  he  was  lost.  It  was  not,  how- 
ever, his  first  experience  of  that  sort.  He  had  before  lost  his  way  in  the 
forest  at  night,  when,  trusting  to  the  sagacity  of  his  horse,  the  faithful 
animal  had  safely  and  speedily  carried  him  out  of  the  dungeon-like  gloom 
back  to  his  home.  He  now  dropped  the  reins,  and,  holding  fast  to  the 
pommel  of  his  saddle,  bowed  his  head  and  urged  his  horse  forward. 
Cautiously  and  steadily  his  four-footed  servant  pursued  his  course,  across 
ravines,  up  one  hill  and  down  to  another,  turning  now  to  the  right,  then 
to  the  left,  and  again  straight  on  through  the  dense  blackness  that  sur- 
rounded them.  In  his  dreamy  meandering  before  sunset,  M.  Saucier 
nuist  have  penetrated  far  into  the  depths  of  the  old  woods;  for  an  hour 
or  more  had  passed  since  his  horse  had  commenced  its  unguided  effort 
to  retrace  his  course.    So  long  indeed,  that  his  confidence  in  the  animal's 


220 

instinct  began  to  waver,  and  the  horrid  thought  occurred  to  him  that  all 
this  groping  in  the  dark  had  been  aimless,  and  that  every  step,  perhaps, 
carried  them  farther  into  the  interior  of  the  vast  wilderness.  He  began 
mentally  to  debate  the  advisability  of  stopping  there,  where  he  was,  to 
await  the  return  of  day,  when  the  rumbling  of  distant  thunder,  and 
flashes  of  blinding  lightning,  portending  an  advancing  storm,  strength- 
ened his  resolution  to  proceed  yet  a  little  farther.  Just  then  the  clatter 
of  the  horses'  iioofs,  and  his  accelerated  gait,  proved  that  he  had  reached 
a  broad,  well-beaten  road.  In  a  few  minutes  a  glimmering  light  in  the 
distance  revived  the  despairing  traveler's  drooping  spirits. 

The  light,  when  approached,  was  found  to  emanate  from  the  window 
of  a  farm  house.  M.  Saucier,  though  his  horse  manifested  no  disposition 
to  slacken  his  brisk  pace,  concluded  to  stop  and  dispel  his  utter  bewilder- 
ment by  inquiring  of  the  inmates  of  the  house  his  exact  whereabouts. 
Dismounting,  he  made  out  a  gate  that  obstructed  his  course  to  the  light. 
Securing  his  horse  to  the  fence,  he  entered  the  premises  and  walked  up 
a  graveled  way  to  the  veranda,  which  now  the  interior  light,  and  fitful 
lightning,  disclosed  from  the  impenetrable  darkness.  He  had  advanced 
to  within  a  few  steps  of  the  house,  when,  to  his  utter  amazement,  a 
female  figure  came  bounding  from  the  door  to  meet  him.  She  threw 
her  arms  around  his  neck,  and  kissing  him  fervently,  exclaimed :  "Oh, 
Papa !  I  am  so  glad  you  have  come.  You  were  so  late  getting  home, 
I  was  fearful  you  had  met  with  some  accident." 

Recovering  from  his  surprise,  and  comprehending  the  young  lady's 
mistake,  he  replied,  "You  are  mistaken,  Madame ;  I  am  not  your  father ; 
but  be  not  alarmed.  I  am  Monsieur  Saucier,  a  merchant  on  Rue  Dupont, 
in  Orleans;  and  having  lost  my  way  I  stopped  here  on  seeing  the  light 
in  your  window,  to  inquire  where  I  am,  and  by  what  road  I  may  the  most 
speedily  get  back  to  my  home,"  The  young  lady  was  obviously  much 
confused;  but  regaining  her  composure,  invited  her  accidental  guest  into 
the  house,  where  he  at  once  discovered  her  identit}'',  and  recovered  his 
lost  bearings. 

]\Iuch  to  his  relief  he  saw  before  him  Mam'selle  Adelaide  Trotier, 
daughter  of  his  old  friend  and  patron,  Jaques  Trotier;  and  was  in  a 
house  he  had  frequently  before  visited,  situated  on  Trotier's  farm,  not 
quite  a  league  from  the  old  city  wall.  The  girl  explained  that  her  father 
had  gone  to  town  early  in  the  afternoon,  and  that  she  was  anxiously 
expecting  his  return  when  she  heard  M.  Saucier  open  the  gate  and  come 
up  the  walk ;  and  that  she  was  feeling  quite  uneasy  about  his  protracted 
absence ;  as  he  was  very  seldom  detained  in  town  to  so  late  an  hour.  She 
had  scarcely  finished  her  last  sentence  when  a  step  was  heard  on  the 
veranda,  and  the  door  was  opened  by  M.  Trotier,  who  was  no  little 
astonished  upon  the  unexpected  meeting  with  his  friend  there.  Expla- 
nations followed,  and  though  the  belated  merchant  was  hospitably  pressed 
to  remain  until  morning,  he  declined,  and,  mounting  his  impatient  horse, 
arrived  at  his  own  home  as  the  threatened  rain  began  to  fall. 

The  adventures  of  that  evening— most  probably  that  impetuous  kiss 
he  received  in  the  dark — wrought  a  notable  change  in  M.  Saucier's  train 
of  thought;  and,  also,  in  his  plans  for  the  future.  His  depression  of 
spirits  vanished  and  was  replaced  by  marked  cheerfulness.  His  eques- 
trian excursions  became  more  frequent  and  less  extended,  usually  ter- 


221 

minating  at  the  Trotier  farm.  In  short,  it  was  soon  noticed  by  his  inti- 
mate associates  that  he  had  once  more  capitulated  to  Cupid,  and,  when, 
a  few  months  later,  his  nuptials  with  the  motherless  j\lam'selle  Adelaide 
Trotier  were  announced  in  the  Church,  it  elicited  a  variety  of  gossiping 
comments,  but  no  surprise.  The  young  lady  was  twenty-four  years  of 
age,  handsome,  tall  and  muscular;  with  some  education  and  much  amia- 
bility and  sweetness  of  disposition.  M.  Saucier  was  then  fifty-two  years 
old — a  little  passed  the  middle  period  of  life, — but  in  the  prime  of 
vigorous  manhood. 

The  union  of  a  man,  some  years  passed  the  meridian  of  his  probable 
existence,  to  a  lady  several  years  less  than  half  his  age,  is  usually — and 
justly — regarded  as  a  violation  of  the  natural  order  of  things,  and  a 
consummate  act  of  folly  on  the  part  of  both.  Yet,  marriage  under  any 
auspices — the  most  flattering,  or  least  promising — is  always,  in  its  ha])pi 
ness-producing  results,  a  mere  matter  of  lottery — an  untried  experiment. 

CHAPTEE  II. 
The  Boyhood  and  Education  of  Jean  Baptiste  Saucier. 

Four  leagues  below  Orleans,  on  the  right,  or  northern  bank  of  the 
river,  is  situated  the  pretty  little  village  Lachapelle;  and  half  a  leagnie 
beyond  it,  nestled  in  the  vine-clad  hills  overlooking  the  picturesque  valley 
of  the  Loir  for  miles,  was  the  tasty,  yellow-roofed  cottage  of  M.  Saucier, 
where  himself  and  bride  were  domiciled  a  few  weeks  after  their  marriage. 
Their  ticket  in  the  matrimonial  lottery,  fortunately,  drew  the  highest 
prize;  for,  notwithstanding  the  disparity  of  their  ages,  their  natures  were 
compatible,  and  their  days  were  redolent  with  unmarred  happiness. 

The  doctrine  of  special  Providence  perhaps  cannot  be  sustained; 
but  surely  none  will  deny  the  special  mercy  vouchsafed  poor  humanity 
by  its  total  impotency  to  penetrate  the  future.  With  this  knowledge 
given  to  mortals,  suicide  would  depopulate  the  earth;  without  hope  life 
would  be  a  dreary  blank.  Among  the  many  useful  articles  ^I.  Saucier 
had  taken  with  him  to  the  country  froin  his  town  residence,  was  his 
factotum,  Pierre  Lepage,  a  young  man  of  unexceptionable  habits,  in- 
dustrious, honorable,  and  strictly  relial)le.  Moreover,  he  was  a  broad- 
gauged  optimist,  with  splendid  ilow  of  spii'its  and  humor.  .  Pierre  was 
installed  as  general  manager  of  the  little  estate,  and  saw  to  trimming 
the  vines,  pruning  the  trees,  cultivating  the  garden  and  miniature  fields, 
and  took  care  of  the  pigs,  the  poultiy,  the  cows,  and  horses.  All  the  day 
he  was  busy  from  dawn  till  bed-time;  and  was  usually  singing  or  whist- 
ling when  not  talking  or  laughing;  and  if  not  working  or  eating,  was 
often  fiddling  or  dancing. 

Tl)e  sentiment  of  love  is  not  contagious  as  measles  or  whooping 
cough,  but  may  be  communicated  by  example  or  association.  Pierre  was 
exposed  to  this  infection,  and  was  a  very  susceptible  subject  to  its  in- 
fluence. The  connubial  bliss  he  daily  witnessed  in  the  cottage  profoundly 
impressed  him,  and  strengthened  his  conviction  that  it  is  not  best  for 
man  to  dwell  alone.  He  pondered  the  matter  over  for  some  time,  and 
the  more  he  thought  about  it  the  more  assiduous  he  became  in  his  devo- 
tions, or  rather,  in  his  attendance  at  church.  Heretofore  the  priest  had, 
•n  several  occasions,  reprimaudcd  him  for  his*  neglect  of  this  duty,  and 


222 

Pierre  always  excused  himself  on  the  plea  of  want  of  time.  Now,  how- 
ever, he  was,  every  Sabbath,  the  first  one  at  the  church  door,  and  was  a 
frequent  caller  at  the  priest's  residence  during  week  days,  especially  in 
the  evenings.  Plis  neighbors,  and  the  villagers,  were  for  a  time  consider- 
ably surprised  at  this  sudden  manifestation  of  zealous  piety,  and  began 
to  surmise  that  Pierre's  sins  must  be  weighing  heavily  upon  his  con- 
science. This  view  seemed  confirmed  when  he  was  seen  to  enter  the 
confessional,  supposedly  to  invoke  the  holy  man's  aid  in  lifting  the 
burden  from  his  sin-stricken  soul.  But  they  were  mistaken.  About  all 
that  Pierre  had  to  confess  to  Father  Jarvais  was  the  fact  that  he  was 
in  love  with  his  sister,  Mam'selle  Marie  Jarvais ;  and  that  what  he  needed 
to  ensure  his  happiness,  and  incidentally  that  of  the  young  lady  also, 
was  not  absolution  so  much  as  the  good  Father's  consent  to  their  union. 
This  he  obtained,  and  in  due  time  they  were  married. 

A  year  and  a  half  had  passed  since  M.  Saucier  had  inducted  his 
blooming  young  bride  in  their  new  home;  and  the  fleeting  days  and 
months  had  brought  to  her  increasing  joy  and  happiness,  and  rose-tinted 
anticipations  of  a  future  blessing  that  would  add  new  charms  to  that 
home,  and  gladden  the  hearts  of  its  inmates.  But,  oh,  how  merciful  it 
Avas  for  their  sanguine  hopes  that  no  power  could  reveal  to  them  the 
hidden  calamity  the  future  had  in  store  for  them. 

On  July  35th,  1726,  the  event  occurred  to  which  they  had  looked 
forward  with  glowing  expectations,  not  unmixed,  very  naturally,  with 
feelings  of  grave  anxiety.  On  that  day  a  son  was  born  to  them ; 
and,  for  a  short  time  it  seemed  that  heaven  had  smiled  upon  them  in 
the  realization  of  their  fondest  wishes.  The  young  mother  had  received 
the  congratulations  of  her  delighted  husband  and  sympathetic  friends 
and  relatives  around  her;  and  had  impressed  on  her  infant's  lips  an 
impassioned  kiss,  when  she  was  suddenly  seized  with  horrible,  agonizing 
convulsions,  that  continued  at  short  intervals,  baffhng  the  skill  of  able 
physicians,  and  unceasing  efforts  of  heroic  nurses,  until  death  mercifully 
relieved  her  of  her  suffering. 

Marie  Lepage,  whose  honeymoon  had  scarcely  passed,  remained 
resolutely  by  the  stricken  young  woman's  bedside,  rendering  every  service 
in  her  power,  until  the  awful  scene  was  closed ;  and  then  took  charge  of 
the  motherless  child,  constituting  herself  its  foster  mother  and  most 
affectionate  and  devoted  nurse. 

It  is  needless  here  to  dwell  upon  the  effect  of  this  great  bereavement 
upon  Monsieur  Saucier.  Its  crushing  shock  can  much  more  readily  be 
imagined  than  described.  This  pitiless  stroke  wellnigli  bereft  his  life 
of  every  charm  and  hope.  But  from  the  almost  intolerable  misfortune 
there  yet  remained  to  him  one  incentive  to  live,  and  to  continued  exertion. 
The  young  life  consigned  to  his  love  and  care  by  the  holy  affection  and 
confidence  of  the  one  who  gave  her  life  for  it,  demanded,  and  must  re- 
ceive, his  unsparing  attention  for  the  balance  of  his  declining  years. 

One  bright  Sunday  morning  the  babe  was  taken  down  to  the  village 
church  and  baptized  by  Father  Jarvais,   receiving  the  name   of   Jean 
Baptiste  Saucier,  after  a  favored  relative  of  his  father,  one  Jean  Baptiste 
Saucier,  who  had  recently  gone  to  America  in  the  King's  service.* 
*  See  Appendix,  Note  B. 


223 

Pierre  and  ]\larie  Lepage  enjoyed  the  sj^ecial  privilege  and  lienor 
of  appointment  as  his  god-father  and  god-mother.  No  more  willing  or 
faithful  sponsors  for  the  motherless  child  could  have  been  selected.  Un- 
der the  angel-like  watchfulness  of  Madame  Lepage  he  thrived  and  grew 
apace,  developing  robust  proportions,  and  rather  more  than  average 
activity  and  intelligence. 

Three  years  then  passed  over  the  house  of  mourning,  when  the  gloom 
of  its  great  sorrow  was  measurably  dispelled  and  enlivened  by  a  gleam 
of  joy,  this  time  unattended,  or  followed,  by  casualty  or  disaster.  To 
Pierre  and  Marie  was  born  a  daughter,  which,  event  the  proud  father 
lost  no  time  in  heralding  throughout  the  neighborhood  and  village.  All 
went  well,  and  the  sunlight  of  love  and  joy  again  illuminated  the  cottage. 
The  time  for  another  baptism  was  soon  at  hand.  By  this  time  Pierre's 
exuberance  of  happiness  had  settled  down  sufficiently  to  permit  him  to' 
think  coherently,  and  he  asked  Marie  if  she  had  yet  thought  of  a  name 
for  their  girl. 

'•'Yes,  Pierre,  I  have",  she  said,  "as  a  testimonial  of  our  respect  and 
affection  for  the  sainted  dead,  and  a  token  of  gratitude  to  M.  Saucier 
for  the  kindness  and  benefits  we  have  received  at  his  hands,  I  think  we 
should  name  our  child  Adelaide ;  don't  you  ?" 

"Indeed  I  do,  Marie",  said  Pierre,  "and  for  the  additional  reason 
that  Adelaide  was  my  good  old  grandmother's  name  also." 

And,  so,  the  child  received  that  name;  but  for  convenience  it  was 
abridged  to  Adel.  The  two  children  infused  new  life  and  light  in  the 
cottage;  and  it  regained  much  of  its  former  cheerful  home-like  appear- 
ance. They  were  reared  together  as  brother  and  sister,  sharing  alike  the 
love  and  tender  care  of  the  young  mother,  and  of  Pierre  and  the  old 
gentleman.  In  time  they  grew  strong  enough  to  follow  Pierre  about 
when  at  work  in  the  garden,  or  among  the  vines,  and  to  ride  with  him 
in  the  cart  to  and  from  the  fields.  And  when  Marie  dressed  them  out 
in  gay  attire,  M.  Saucier  experienced  great  pleasure  and  pride  in  taking 
them  with  him  in  his  gig  on  his  frequent  visits  to  the  village,  where 
they  were  petted  and  admired  by  friends  and  relatives.  In  course  of  time 
they  daily  walked  to  the  village  together,  when  the  weather  was  fair, 
the  boy  carrying  their  dinner  basket,  and  attended  the  village  school, 
and  learned  the  catechism.  It  was  a  long  walk,  but  as  other  children 
joined  them  along  the  road,  they  enjoyed  the  exercise  and  were  bene- 
fitted by  it.  In  bad  weather,  or  muddy  roads,  Pierre  bundled  them  in 
his  cart  and  took  them  to  the  school  house,  and  returned  for  them  when 
school  was  dismissed  in  the  evening. 

Jean  Baptiste  rapidly  grew  to  be  a  manly  lad;  stout,  athletic,  and 
courageous.  He  learned  quickly,  was  fond  of  active  sports,  and,  though 
neither  ill-tempered  or  quarrelsome,  was  not  slow  to  resent  an  insult, 
or  redress  a  wrong.  In  consequence,  he  often  had  occasion  to  test  his 
muscular  power,  and  was  not  long  in  being  accorded  the  pugilistic  cham- 
pionship of  the  school. 

Adel  was  of  quiet  and  retiring  disposition,  but  brave  and  spirited 
enough  to  admire  her  foster-brother's  knightly  traits.  They  were  brought 
up,  as  their  parents  and  ancestors  had  been,  in  the  Catholic  faitli,  and 
^together  received   elementarv   relifjious   instruction   at    Father   -Tarvais' 


224 

jDarochial  school;  and  together  they  knelt  at  the  altar  in  their  fir?t  Coni- 
mnnion. 

But  the  happy  childhood  days  were  fleeting,  and  the  inevitable  time 
at  length  arrived  decreeing  their  separation,  and  diverging  their  young 
lives  into  different  channels.  The  boy  would  ere  long  have  to  assume 
his  part  in  the  serious  drama  of  life,  and  needed  to  be  well  prepared 
for  it.  He  had  exhausted  the  old  village  teacher's  resources  and  learn- 
ing, and  must  seek  higher  instruction  at  the  Academy  in  Orleans.  He 
left  his  home  for  the  first  time,  and  though  his  destination  was  but  a 
few  miles  away,  the  leave  taking  left  no  dry  eyes  in  the  cottage.  He 
visited  his  home  at  the  close  of  each  week;  yet,  his  absence  left  a  dreary 
void  that  dampened  the  hilarity  of  the  family  circle. 

He  was  graduated  at  the  Academy  at  the  head  of  his  class,  and  then 
accompanied  his  father  to  Paris,  to  visit  his  uncle,  Col.  Felix  Xavier 
Saucier,  and  to  see  the  many  attractive  sights  visible  in  the  splendid 
metropolis.  It  is  a  family  tradition  that  Colonel  Saucier  bound  the 
Jjoy's  hands  together  behind  his  back  with  a  handkerchief,  when  he  took 
him  through  the  great  palace  at  A-^ersailles,  in  order  to  restrain  his  in- 
tense desire  to  touch  or  handle  the  swords  and  other  glittering  arms  he 
saw  there  at  every  turn. 

Jean  Baptiste  was  so  captivated  by  the  fine  martial  bearing  of 
Colonel  Saucier,  and  the  perfect  discipline  and  gorgeous  appearance  of 
his  regiment  of  Eoyal  Guards,  that  he  determined  then  and  there  to 
emulate  his  uncle's  course  in  the  profession  of  arms;  and  to  consecrate 
his  life  to  the  cause  of  his  king  and  his  country.  His  natural  aptitude 
for  that  calling,  and  erect,  soldierly,  figure,  won  the  Colonel's  admiration 
and  encouragement.  After  much  persuasion  he  gained  his  fathe3""s  eon- 
sent;  then  through  the  influence  and  efforts  of  his  uncle,  was  admitted 
into  the  Eoyal  Military  School  as  a  cadet. 

This  disruption  of  home  ties — destined  to  be  prolonged  indefinitely 
■ — cast  upon  the  inmates  of  the  cottage  overlooking  the  Loir  a  deeper 
cloud  of  sadness.  M.  Saucier  wandered  about  the  fields  and  vineyards 
aimlessly  as  though  lost,  and  Adel  wept  in  secret.  Pierre  was  not  so 
jolly  as  of  old,  and  had  frequent  moments  of  serious  reflection.  And 
poor  Marie,  diligent  as  ever  with  her  routine  domestic  affairs,  often 
blamed  the  onions,  or  mustard,  or  the  dust  or  smoke,  for  bringing  tears 
to  her  eyes  that  she  wiped  away  with  her  apron. 

Jean  Baptiste  was  too  thoroughly  engrossed  in  his  studies  and  duties 
to  be  homesick.  His  excellent  scholarship,  assiduous  application  and 
intellectual  alertness  enabled  him  to  readily  master  the  curriculum  and 
training  of  L'Ecole  Militaire ;  from  which  he  emerged  at  the  early  age 
of  twenty-two  with  a  commission  of  Lieutenant  of  Engineers  in  the 
Eoyal  Army. 

He  returned  to  his  cottage  home  on  a  brief  leave  of  absence,  arrayed 
in  the  tinseled  trappings  of  his  newly  attained  rank,  a  superb  type  of 
physical  manhood  and  gallant  soldier.  All  gazed  on  him  with  pride, 
and  feelings  akin  to  adoration.  Pierre  no  longer  called  him  pet  names, 
but  doffed  his  hat  in  respectful  obeisance ;  and  Marie,  in  happy  amaze- 
ment, addressed  him  as  Monsieur  Jean  Baptiste.  Adel  could  scarcely 
realize  that  the  handsome  young  military  officer,  in  showy  uniform, 
now  before  her,  was  the  impetuous  boy  companion  of  her  childhood  ; 


225 

and  she  awoke  to  the  consciousness  that  her  sisterly  affection  for  him 
had  somehow  changed  to  a  different  and  loftier  sentiment.  I'his  dis- 
covery caused  her  to  be  strangely  demure  and  reserved  in  his  presence. 
Too  soon  the  limit  of  his  furlough  expired ;  and  he  received  orders  from 
the  War  Department  at  Paris,  to  report  for  duty  at  once  to  Major 
Makarty  at  Brienne.  Then  came  the  trying  ordeal  of  taking  final  leave 
of  his  dear  old  home  where  he  had  passed  all  the  early  and  happiest 
years  of  his  life,  and  of  the  loved  ones  he  was  destined  never  to  see 
again. 

Feeling  his  fortitude  about  to  desert  him,  he  tore  himself  awa}', 
after  receiving  the  tremulous  blessing  of  his  gray-haired  father,  the 
tearful  farewell  of  big-hearted  Pierre,  and  fervent  embrace  of  his  beloved 
foster-mother,  Marie,  and  lastly,  the  parting  kiss  of  Adel,  now  a  charm- 
ing maiden  with  lustrous  black  eyes,  rosy  cheeks  and  queenly  figure, 
who,  with  mighty  effort,  repressed  her  tears  until  the  young  soldier  had 
disappeared  down  the  winding  road  leading  to  the  village. 

It  is  altogether  probable  that  the  order  of  the  Ministre  de  Marine 
to  the  young  officer,  to  join  Major  Makarty^s  command  for  service  in 
America,  was  in  compliance  to  his  own  request.  The  romance  and 
glamour  of  the  new  world,  centering  in  highly  colored  representations 
of  wild,  free  life  on  the  great  Mississippi,  were  still  attracting  there 
many  from  the  better  classes  of  the  French  people.  Moved  by  the  spirit 
of  adventure  usually  exuberant  at  his  age,  and  by  aspirations  for  attain- 
ing distinction  in  the  service  of  his  country,  Lieutenant  Saucier  did  not 
hesitate  to  sever  the  sacred  bonds  of  kindred,  home,  and  friendships,  in 
responding  to  that  call  to  duty.  Two  considerations,  however,  tended 
to  ameliorate  the  pangs  of  that  sacrifice  and  his  prospective  exile;  one 
was  the  vague  hope  that  his  absence  would  not  be  of  long  continuance, 
and  the  other  that  he  would  meet  relatives  of  his  father  there  who  had 
preceded  him  to  the  new  empire,  one  of  whom,  in  particular,  a  civil 
engineer,  who  had  long  been  employed  in  the  construction  and  preser- 
vation of  old  Fort  Chartres.* 

CHAPTEE  III. 

Fort  Chartres  ix  the  Illixois. 

In  the  autumn  of  1T18,  Pierre  Duque  Boisbriant,  recently  appointed 
Commandant  of  the  Illinois,  by  the  Company  of  the  Indies,  arrived  at 
Kaskaskia  with  a  detachment  of  troops  for  the  purpose  of  constructing 
a  fort  in  that  region  to  protect  the  Company's  interests  there,  and  the 
French  colonists  in  that  portion  of  Xew  France.  Boisbriant,  a  Canadian 
by  Ijjrth,  and  cousin  of  Bienville,  then  Governor  of  Louisiana,  arrived  at 
Mobile  on  the  9tli  of  February,  1T18.  Proceeding  to  Biloxi  he  there 
made  his  preparations,  and  then  commenced  his  long  voyage  up  the  great 
river,  which  he  accomplished  )jy  fall  without  incident  of  note.  Gov. 
Bienville  and  a  colony  of  French  accompanied  him  from  Mobile  to  a 
l^oint  on  the  east  bank  of  the  ]klississippi,  thirty  leagues  above  its  mouth, 
where  they  founded  a  post  they  namecl  Iberville,  subsequently  re-named 
Xew  Orleans. 


*  See   Appendix,   Note   B. 
—15  H  S 


226 

The  site  selected  by  Boisbriant  for  his  fort  in  the  Illinois,  was  near 
the  east  bank  of  the  Mississippi,  on  the  flat  alluvial  bottom  land,  sixteen 
miles  above  Kaskaskia;  having  a  long  slough,  or  lake,  the  remains  of 
an  ancient  channel  of  the  river,  on  the  east  midway  between  it  and  the 
bluffs  four  miles  away.  This  slough,  he  supposed,  would  add  materially 
to  the  strategic  strength  of  the  position.  The  fort  he  erected  there  was 
a  wooden  stockade  reinforced  on  the  interior  with  earth  taken  from  the 
excavations  of  the  exterior  moats.  It  was  completed  in  1720,  and  named 
Fort  de  Chartres,  as  a  compliment  to  the  Regent,  whose  son  was  Le  Due 
de  Chartres. 

This  fort  was  for  many  years  the  chef-lieu,  or  seat  of  civil  as  well 
as  military  government  of  the  Illinois  district  embracing  the  territory 
from  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio  to  Canada  between  the  Mississippi  and 
Wabash  rivers.  In  1731,  the  Company  of  the  West  failed  and  surrend- 
ered their  charter  to  the  king.  The  Illinois  was  by  this  act  receded  to 
the  crown  of  France. 

For  the  protection  of  Kaskaskia  from  threatened  incursions  of  the 
fierce  Chickasaws,  below  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio,  a  stockade  fort,  was 
in  the  year  1733,  erected  on  the  bluff  just  east  of  the  town,  and  a  portion 
of  the  troops  at  Fort  Chartres  were  sent  there  to  garrison  it.  This 
Kaskaskia  fort  has  been  known,  erroneously,  since  the  conquest  of  the 
Illinois  by  George  Eogers  Clark,  as  "Fort  Gage.''  Its  nam.e,  and  the. 
name  of  its  Irailder,  are  lost.  It  was  a  French  fort,  and  when  the  dis- 
heartening news  of  the  cession  of  the  country  by  the  craven  King  of 
France  to  the  English,  in  1763,  reached  the  town  of  Kaskaskia,  the  in- 
dignant citizens  set  fire  to  the  fort  and  destroyed  it,  determined  that  the 
hated  ensigu  of  England  should  not  float  over  it.  The  "Fort  Gage" 
entered  by  Col.  George  Eogers  Clark,  on  the  night  of  the  4th  of  July, 
1778,  was  the  stockaded  Jesuit  buildings  in  the  town,  occupied  by  the 
British  under  the  command  of  M.  Eocheblave.* 

It  is  much  to  be  regretted  that  so  few  of  the  records  and  official 
documents  of  old  Fort  Chartres  have  been  preserved  to  reveal  to  us  the 
story  of  its  occupants  in  their  daily  life;  of  the  stirring  events,  and 
strange,  thrilling  scenes  transpiring  there;  of  the  busy  throngs  that  came 
and  went ;  of  the  military  expeditions  marching  from  its  gates  to  repel 
invasions,  or  attack  distant  enemies ;  of  the  Indians  lounging  about  its 
gates,  or  camped  near  by :  of  tlie  joys  and  sorrows,  deaths  and  griefs, 
hopes  and  disappointments  of  its  inmates  in  their  remote  exile  from 
civilization. 

About  the  close  of  the  first  half  of  the  Eighteenth  century  France 
and  England  were  again  at  war  because  of  a  disagreement  between 
Frederick  the  Groat  and -Marie  Theresa;  and  this  produced  serious  dis- 
turbances in  the  settlements  in  the  Illinois.     Some  Englishmen  lurking 

*  Fort  Chartres  passed  into  possession  of  the  English  in  1765.  Seven  years 
later,  in  1772,  occurred  an  extraordinary  rise  of  tlie  Mississippi  that  inundated  aU 
the  low  lands  along:  its  borders.  The  water  rose  in  Fort  Chartres  to  the  depth  of 
seven  feet.  The  northwest  bastion,  and  .greater  part  of  the  western  wall  fell  into 
the  river.  The  Fort  was  abandoned  by  the  English,  who  took  possession  of  the 
larse  buildings  of  the  .Tesuits  in  Kaskaskia,  surroundinsi'  the-m  with  a  stockad"^. 
which  they  named  Fort  Gaso,  and  there  established  tlieir  seat  of  government, 
military  and  civil,  for  the  Illinois.  At  the  period  of  Capt.  Bossu's  second  visit 
to  P'ort  Chartres,  in  1755.  the  fort  on  the  hill,  east  of  Kaskaskia.  was  garrisoned 
by  French  troops  commanded  by  Captain  ]\rontcharvaux.     It  was  destroyed  in   lififi. 

See  "The  Armament  of  Fort  Cliartres."'  a  paper  in  the  1906  Transactions  of  the 
Illinois  State   Ilistoi'ical    Society,   page   225. 


227 

on  the  Mississippi  were  arrested  as  spies  and  confined  in  the  dungeon  at 
Fort  Chartres.  Then  rumors  came  of  a  contemplated  English  and  In- 
dian attack  on  the  Fort  in  retaliation.  Chevalier  de  Bartel,  the  Com- 
mandant of  the  Post  was  sorely  perplexed.  The  Fort  was  sadly  out  of 
repair,  and  supplies  of  all  sorts  very  nearly  exhausted.  Many  of  the 
soldiers  of  the  garrison,  tiring  of  idle  confinement  had  deserted  to  try 
free  life  in  the  woods  and  prairies.  "Many  of  the  old-time  Indian  allies 
v/ere  won  over  by  the  British,  and  had  agreed  to  destroy  the  French  post 
during-  the  moon  of  the  fall  of  the  leaf ;  but  in  this  were  thwarted  by  the 
skill  and  address  of  De  Bartel."* 

The  peace  of  Aix-la-Chapelle,  in  1748,  gave  the  dissolute  King  of 
Fi-ance,  Louis  XV,  brief  "respite  from  contention  with  England  and 
jjrofitless  continental  wars,  only  to  sink  deeper  in  vice  and  debauchery, 
and  to  become  more  completely  under  control  of  the  beautiful,  soulless 
Madame  de  Pompadour.  He  had  impoverished  France  by  his  profligacy, 
and  support,  with  his  armies  and  treasury,  of  his  father-in-law's  claims 
to  the  throne  of  .Poland,  and  in  the  Avars  of  the  Austrian  succession. 
Meanwhile  his  American  colonies  were  utterly  neglected,  and  some  of 
his  western  military  posts,  including  Fort  Chartres,  on  the  verge  of 
abandonment.  This  latter  calamity,  however,  -was  averted  "when",  again 
quoting  from  Mr.  Mason's  paper,  "the  Marquis  de  Galissoniere,  Governor 
General  of  Canada,  presented  a  memorial  on  the  subject  to  the  home 
government.  He  (therein)  said,  'The  little  colony  of  Illinois  ought  not 
to  be  left  to  perish.  The  King  must  sacrifice  for  its  support.  The  prin- 
cipal advantage  of  the  country  is  its  extreme  productiveness;  and  its 
connection  with  Canada  and  Louisiana  must  be  maintained'."  Again  in 
January,  1750,  he  urged  upon  the  King  the  importance  of  preserving 
and  streng-thening  the  post  at  the  Illinois;  describing  the  country  as 
open  and  ready  for  the  plough,  and  traversed  by  an  innumerable  multi- 
tude of  buffalos.  'And  these  animals',  he  says,  are  covered  with  a  species 
of  wool,  sufficiently  fine  to  be  employed  in  various  manufactories'.  And 
he  further  suggests,  and  doubtless  correctly,  that  the  buffalo,  'if  caught, 
and  attached  to  the  plough  would  move  it  at  a  speed  superior  to  that  of 
the  domestic  ox'." 

The  King  was  at  last  aroused  to  a  proper  understanding  of  the  de- 
plorable condition  of  affairs  in  his  far  western  possessions,  and  decided 
upon  a  vigorous  policy  to  defend  and  retain  them.  He  ordered  Fort 
Chartres  to  be  rebuilt  with  stone,  and  garrisoned  with  a  body  of  regular 
troops.  For  the  reconstruction  of  the  Fort  he  appropriated  a  million  of 
croM'ns;  and  ordered  large  quantities  of  munitions,  and  other  supplies, 
to  be  sent  up  the  Mississippi  at  once. 

In  the  summer  of  ITol,  Chevalier  Makarty,f  a  Major  of  the  Engi- 
neer Cor])s.  a  rugged  soldier  of  remote  Irish   (lescent,  arrived  at  the 

*  Old  Fort  Chartres.  A  paper  read  by  Hon.  E.  G.  Mason  before  the  Chicago 
Historical    Society,   June   16th,    1880.     Fergus   Co.,    Chicago. 

t  This  is  the  correct  speUing  of  his  name,  as  written  bv  himself  on  the  parish 
records  of  the  Church  of  St.  Anne  of  New  Chartres.  Of  Major  Makarty,  who  was 
Commandant  at  Fort  Chartres  during  the  very  interesting  period  of  its  construction, 
unfortunately  but  little  is  known.  Of  his  personal  history  and  characteristics  we 
know  absolutely  nothing.  But  meagre  mention  is  made  of  him  in  any  of  our  local 
histories  ;  and  the  records  of  his  official  acts  are  lost,  or  stored  in  the  state  archives 
at  Paris.  In  1753,  M.  DuQuesne,  Governor  General,  wrote  to  the  Minister  of 
Marines,  at  Paris,  charging  Commandant  Makarty  with  illicit  sales  of  liquor  to 
the  Indians  and  French  settlers,  and  advising  that  he  be  relieved  therefor  of  his 
command.  But  no  attention  was  paid  to  this  charge,  and  he  was  not  relieved  until 
1761,  and  then  by  his  own  request ;  as,  at  this  time,  he  was  incapacitated  for  active 
sen'ice   by  reason   of   disability   from    rheumatic   gout. 


228 

Fort,  from  France,  with  a  considerable  military  force  and  a  large  num- 
ber of  artisans  and  laborers,  and  boats  ladened  with  tools,  ammunition, 
arms,  provisions  and  clothing.  The  Major  assumed  command  of  the 
post,  and  lost  no  time  in  beginning  the  great  work  he  had  been  sent 
there  to  do.  In  this  era  of  scientific  military  engineering  it  is  difficult 
to  imagine  any  reason  for  locating  a  defensive  work  upon  such  a 
wretched  site  as  that  selected  for  Fort  Chartres.  It  was  situated  on 
sandy,  alluvial  soil  but  little  elevated  above  the  river's  level,  and  continu- 
ally subject  to  the  river's  encroachments;  with  a  slough  between  it  and 
the  river  bank,  and  a  large  slough  between  it  and  the  bluffs;  and  in  the 
midst  of  pestilential  malarious,  mosquito-infested,  swamps.  And  why 
an  Engineer  of  Chevalier  Makarty's  presumed  attainments  erected  a 
splendid  fortress,  at  immense  expense  on  the  same  ground  is  beyond 
comprehension,  excepting  on  the  supposition  that  he  acted  in  obedience 
to  positive  instructions.  His  arrival  at  the  post,  with  well  equipped  and 
well  disciplined  soldiers  and  their  sprightly  officers,  accompanied  by  a 
small  army  of  skilled  mechanics  and  laborers,  and  a  'fleet  of  keel-boats 
of  stores,  produced  a  great  sensation  not  only  at  the  decayed  and  nearly 
deserted  post,  but  all  through  the  settlements  in  the  Illinois.  Fort 
Chartres  awoke  from  its  lethargy  and  was  transformed  to  a  scene  of 
busy  animation.  The  hum  of  a  new  activity  resounded  in  the  forest 
and  distant  hills.  The  liabitanis  of  the  bottom  were  elated;  and  the 
Indians  gazed  upon  the  new  arrivals  in  mute  surprise. 

Captain  M.  Bossu,  who  came  up  the  Mississippi  with  a  company 
of  marines,  the  following  spring,  1753,  writing  from  Fort  Chartres,  says, 
'•'LeSieur  Saussier,  an  engineer,  has  made  a  plan  for  constructing  a  new 
Fort  here  according  to  the  instruction  of  the  Court.  It  will  bear  the 
name  of  the  old  one,  which  is  called  Fort  de  Chartres."  The  stockades 
of  the  old  fort  were  decayed  beyond  repair,  though  the  buildings  they 
enclosed  were  yet  tenable  and  in  fair  condition.  The  site  chosen  for 
the  new  structure  was  not  half  a  league  above  the  old  Fort,  and  but  a 
short  distance  from  the  river.* 

At  that  point  a  mission  for  the  Kaskaskia  Indians  had  many  years 
before  been  established — which  was  perhaps  one  reason  for  locating  the 
new  Fort  there — and  it  served  as  the  nucleus  of  quite  a  town  at  the  gate 
of  the  Fort,  subsequently  known  as  Xouveau  (Xew)  Chartres. 

Chevalier  Makarty  began  operations  by  sending  a  large  force  of 
workmen  to  the  bluffs  at  the  nearest  escarpment  of  limestone,  about  four 
miles  east,  where  they  built  temporary  quarters  of  logs  covered  with 
clapboards,  there  to  blast  the  rock  and  cut  the  detached  masses  to  re- 
quired dimensions.  "The  place  in  the  bluff  may  be  seen  to  this  day 
Avhere  the  stone  wa.s  quarried  to  erect  the  fort."f  Another  force  of 
laborers,  with  carts  drawn  by  oxen,  conveyed  the  dressed  stone,  around 

*  I  acknowledge  with  pleasure  my  indebtedness  to  Hon.  H.  W.  Beckwith,  Presi- 
dent of  the  Illinois  State  Historical  Society,  for  important  references  corroborating 
this  fact,  and  correcting  the  common  impression  that  the  new  fort,  built  of  stone, 
was  a  reconstruction  of  the  old  stockade.  Captain  Bossu,  who  again  visited  the 
fort  in  1755,  says — in  his  Travels  en  Louisiane — "I  came  once  more  to  the  old  Fort 
Chartres,  where  I  lay  in  a  hut,  till  I  could  get  lodging  in  the  new  fort,  which  is 
almost  finished." 

t  Reynold's  Pioneer  History  of  Illinois.  "The  finer  stone,  with  which  the  gate- 
ways and  buildings  were  faced,  was  brought  from  beyond  the  Mississippi."  E.  G. 
Mason. 


229 

the  end  of  the  slough,  in  the  dry  season,  to  the  builders  by  the  river; 
and  in  the  wet  season  to  the  slough,  or  lagoon,  across  which  they  were 
ferried  in  fiat  boats,  and  then  taken  on  to  the  required  place.  Beside 
these  were  lime  burners,  mortar  mixers,  wood  choppers  and  whip-saw- 
yers, carpenters,  blacksmiths,  boatmen,  teamsters,  hunters,  cooks  and 
servants,  comprising,  with  the  soldiers,  a  population  of  several  hundreds. 
The  new  fort  was  projected  on  a  more  modern  plan  than  the  old  one, 
and  was  much  larger;  a  quadrangle,  comprising  an  area  of  four  acres. 
The  exterior  walls  of  massive  masonry,  thirty  inches  in  thickness  at  the 
base,  and  loop-holed  for  musket  and  artillery  firing,  rose  sixteen  feet  in 
height,  with  square  bastions  at  each  corner,  and  midway  in  the  west  wall 
was  a  small  gate  for  convenience  of  access  to  the  river  landing.  The 
northeastern  bastion  having  the  flagstaff  was  higher  than  the  others.  In 
the  southeastern  bastion  was  situated  the  magazine  of  stone,  laid  in 
cement  now  as  hard  as  flint.  It  is  yet  in  sound  preservation ;  its  vertical 
end  walls  twenty-five  feet  in  height,  closing  the  arch  between.  Its  floor, 
seven  feet  below  the  surface,  and  its  interior,  well  plastered  with  cement, 
measuring  twenty-five  feet  by  eighteen;  and  twenty-two  feet  from  floor 
to  apex  of  the  arch.  There  were  also  long  lines  of  barracks,  officer's 
quarters,  and  store  rooms. 

The  i^eriod  occupied  in  building  the  new  fort  was  one  of  unprece- 
dented prosperity  for  that  portion  of  New  France.  Kaskaskia,  the  me- 
tropolis of  the  Illinois,  the  center  of  its  widespread  commerce,  and  of 
its  wealth  and  industries,  profited  largely  by  its  proximity  to  the  mili- 
tary post.  Its  citizens  of  French  lineage,  were  not  distinguished  for 
energy  or  enterprise,  but  were  thrifty  and  self-reliant.  With  this  con- 
tinuous round  of  mirth  and  festivities  they  were  not  unmindful  of  their 
own  interests.  Cahokia,  twenty-eight  miles  above  the  fort,  on  the 
Mississippi,  rivaled  Kaskaskia  as  a  trading  point,  was  almost  its  equal  in 
population,  and  its  people  were  as  noted  for  their  social  gaieties  and 
generous  hospitality.  Prairie  du  Eocher,  settled  in  1722,  and  nestled 
at  the  foot  of  a  high  perpendicular  cliff  of  the  bluffs,  four  miles  south- 
east of  the  fort,  gained  much  importance  during  the  construction  of  the 
new  fortification.  St.  Philip,  founded  by  Eenault,  five  miles  above  the 
old  fort,  on  his  extensive  land  grant,  had  passed  the  zenith  of  its  growth. 
and  was  already  known  among  the  settlers  as  "Le  Petite  Village".  New 
Chartres  in  the  parish  of  St.  Ann,  near  the  main  gate  of  the  new  fort, 
gained  the  proportions  of  a  considerable  town  having  absorbed  the 
greater  part  of  the  population  of  the  town  below,  near  the  old  fort,* 
with  a  large  part  of  that  of  St.  Philip,  and  comprised  the  temporary 
homes  of  the  mechanics  and  laborers  employed  on  the  new  structure; 
also  of  some  of  the  officers  and  soldiers  having  families. 

These  settlements  constituted  an  isolated  community  surrounded 
by  Indians,  having  only  periodical  communication  with  the  outside 
world  by  way  of  New  Orleans,  or  the  northern  lakes  and  Quebec.  They 
were  all  situated  on  the  alluvial  "bottom"  of  the  Mississippi,  a  region 
of  unsurpassed  fertility,  teeming  with  wild  fruits  and  nuts,  and  overrun 

•  "The  site  of  this  viUag-e  was  swept  off  by  the  Mississippi ;  so  that  not  much 
of  any  vestige  of  it  remains  at  this  day.  This  village  had  its  common  held,  com- 
mons for  wood  and  pasture,  its  church  and  grave-yard,  like  the  other  settlements 
of  Illinois."     Reynolds'  Pioneer  History  of  Illinois. 


230 


by  herds  of  buffalo,  deer,  turkeys,  prairie  cliickeus,  aud  other  varieties  of 
game ;  its  numerous  lakes  and  sloughs  visited  by  myriads  of  water  fowls, 
and  alive  with  the  finest  of  fish.  Nature  lavishly  supplied,  in  a  great 
measure,  the  simple  wants  of  the  people,  and  left  both  old  and  young 
to  regard  the  pursuit  of  pleasure  the  chief  object  of  existence. 

PLAN  OF  FORT  CHARTRES. 


^   /  DED  CDD 


Each  96  feet  in  length  and 
6  feet  in 


B.  Main   gate ;   facing  tlie  east. 

C.  Tlie  river  gate. 
D.  D.     Officers'  quarters,  liospital  and  store  rooms. 

36  feet  in  breadth. 
G.  G.      Soldiers'  barraclts.     Two  stories  high,   135   feet  in  length  and 

breadth. 
H.  H.     Storerooms   and   gua.rdhouse.     Eacli    building  90    feet   long   and    2i   wide. 

E.  One  of  the  several  wells. 

F.  "The   inagazine. 

I.     The  wine  and  kitchen  cellar. 
K.     The  bake  oven. 
L.  Li.     A  ravine  marking  the  limit  of  erosion  by  the  river  in  1772,  and  the  por- 
tion of,  the  walls  then  washed  away. 
The  large  council   hall  back  of  the  officers'   quarters,   is  not  shown  in   the   cut. 
The  bastions  were  more   nearly  square   than   the    artist   has   represented   them- 
in  the  above  diagram. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Social  Life  at  the  Foht. 

The  household  of  the  Commaudaiit,  C*hevalier  de  Makarty,  con- 
sisted, with  himself,  of  his  son  and  daughter,  his  wife  having  died  some 
years  before  of  that  entailed  curse  upon  humanity,  pulmonary  consump- 
tion. The  son,  Maurice,  acted  in  the  capacity  of  his  father's  secretary 
and  personal  assistant.  The  daughter,  Eulalie,  a  tall,  slender,  hand- 
some girl  of  twenty  summers,  with  very  fair  complexion,  blue  eyes  and 


231 

auburn  hair,  though  French  by  parentage  and  education,  i^ossessed  some 
marked  traits  of  her  father's  Celtic  ancestry,  with  the  physical  consti- 
tutional frailties  of  her  deceased  mother.  As  some  of  the  officers  in  the 
Chevalier's  command  were  accompanied  by  their  wives  and  families,  she 
had  come  with  her  father  and  brother,  by  advice  of  her  physician,  in 
quest  of  health  and  vigor  that  a  change  of  climate  might  offer. 

She  was  by  no  means  an  invalid;  and  the  rough,  wild  life  at  the 
[)ost,  for  a  time,  greatly  improved  her  strength  and  animation.  In  the 
quarters  she  enlivened  the  garrison  with  her  music  and  laughter,  when 
not  engaged  in  alleviating  the  sufferings  of  the  sick  by  her  kind  and 
patient  attentions.  A  great  deal  of  her  time  was  passed  in  the  open  air 
when  the  weather  permitted,  as  she  was  much  interested  in  the  progress 
of  the  work,  and  in  everything  she  saw  in  the  strange  new  country.  She 
had  for  a  companion — who  followed  her  everywhere  like  her  shadow — 
h  mulatto  servant,  named  Lisette,  a  native  of  Martinique,  a  few  years 
her  senior  in  age;  strong,  agile  as  a  cat,  and  absolutely  fearless.  This 
maid  was  devoted  to  her  young  mistress  almost  to.  infatuation.  In 
pleasant  weather  with  bright  skies,  the  two  could  be  daily  seen  together, 
mounted  on  their  ponies,  galloping  over  the  prairie ;  or  on  the  high  bluff 
Aiewing  the  grand  panorama  before  them;  or  in  a  canoe,  paddled  by  the 
intrepid  Lisette,  on  the  broad  Mississippi;  or  fishing  on  the  marais;  or 
gathering  wild  flowers,  nuts,  or  grapes  near  the  Fort.  Occasionally 
some  of  the  ladies  from  the  officers'  quarters  joined  them,  and  quite 
often  a  gallant  officer,  then  off'  duty,  offered  his  services  as  an  escort 
10  guard  them  from  harm,  and  to  enjoy  the  young  lady's  smiles.  Eulalie 
and  her  dusky  maid  needed  no  countersign  to  pass  the  camp  sentinels; 
but  were  prudently  restrained  from  going  beyond  the  cordon  of  out- 
riding pickets  without  an  escort  of  armed  horsemen. 

The  multitude  of  people  at  the  Fort  engaged  in  the  gigantic  work, 
and  the  number  of  officers  and  soldiers  quartered  there,  rendered  it  an 
attractive  place  for  all  surrounding  settlements;  not  only  for  sale  of 
produce,  and  other  traffic,  but  also  for  social  enjojinent  and  pastimes. 
The  Fort  was  frequently  visited  by  parties  of  ladies  and  gentlemen  from 
Ivaskaskia,  or  Cahokia,  or  both,  to  spend  the  day  in  rov\ing,  fishing, 
or  picnicing,  followed,  after  candle  lighting  by  dancing. 

Strict  discipline  was  at  all  times  enforced  by  the  Comnuujdant  of 
the  garrison.  The  troops  were  regularly  drilled;  sentinels  and  picket 
guards,  or  videttes,  Avere  constantly  on  duty,  and  the  distant  stone  and 
wood  workers  and  teamsters  were  guarded  by  squads  of  well  armed 
soldiers.  These  precautions,  apart  from  maintaining  discipline  and 
order,  w'ere  necessary  because  of  the  defenseless  condition  of  both  forts, 
the  old  and  the  new,  during  the  erection  of  the  latter,  in  view  of  the 
many  rumors  of  Indian  hostilities,  and  possible  attacks  at  anv  time  by 
ihe  despised  English.* 

•  In  1752  six  Indians  of  the  Outagami,  or  Fox  tribe,  then  residing  west  of 
Lake  Michigan,  came  down  the  country  on  a  hunting  expedition,  and  were  cap- 
tured by  the  Cahokia  Indians,  who  burned  five  of  them  at  the  stake.  The  sixth 
one  escaped  to  return  to  his  people  and  report  the  fate  of  his  companions.  A 
council  was  called,  and  revenge  determined  upon.  One  hundred  and  eighty  bark 
canoes  filled  with  Foxes  and  their  allies,  the  Kickapoos  and  Sioux,  descended  the 
river,  passing  the  fort  at  Cahokia,  then  commanded  by  Chevalier  de  Volsci,  at 
night  without  being  seen.     The  Cahokias  and  Michigamis  were  encamped,  as  Bossu 


232 

Lieutenant  Jeau  Baptiste  Saucier  reported  for  duty  to  Major  Ma- 
karty  at  Brienne;  and  there,  before  sailing  with  his  command  from 
France,  received  from  the  Minister  of  Marine  specific  instructions  re- 
garding the  character  of  fort  tlie  king  desired  to  be  erected.  During 
the  long,  tedious  voyage  across  the  Atlantic,  and  the  laborious  ascent  of 
the  Mississippi,  the  young  lieutenaiit  was  much  in  the  company  of  the 
Major's  daughter,  Mam'selie  Eulalie.  And  after  their  arrival  at  the 
old  Fort,  his  relations  with  the  Commandant  continued  confidential  and 
intimate,  his  assignment  as  Chief  Designer  requiring  his  presence  at 
headquarters  much  of  his  time.  While  there  at  work  the  young  lady 
Avas  frequently  at  his  side,  assisting  in  his  drawings  and  calculations; 
and,  when  off  duty,  he  was  often  her  companion  in  morning  excursions, 
and  in  the  evening  cotillions  and  waltzes.  This  continued  association 
of  the  handsome  young  officer  and  the  brilliant  girl,  in  their  distant 
exile,  naturally  engendered  in  both  sentiments  of  mutual  regard  higher 
and  more  fervent  than  mere  respect.  And  indeed,  with  her,  this  senti- 
ment gradually  deepened  to  an  absorbing  passion.  He  would  probably 
have  fully  reciprocated  this  feeling,  but  for  the  everpresent  image  before 
him  of  his  childhood's  playmate,  schoolmate,  and  more  than  sister,  the 
stately  Adel,  far  away  on  the  sun-kissed  hills  of  the  Loire.  He  admired 
Eulalie,  but  loved  Adel. 

CHAPTER  V. 

Rescue  op  Commandant's  Daughter. 

All  through  the  winter  and  succeeding  summer  the  adjacent  forest 
resounded  with  strokes  of  the  woodman's  axe  and  mason's  hammer ;  and 
heavy  blasting  of  rocky  cliffs  above  Prairie  du  Rocher  was  reechoed  like 
distant  peals  of  artillery.  The  Indians  watched  the  progress  of  the  work 
in  silent  amazement,  and  the  Creole  settlers  were  loud  in  praises  of  their 
good  and  munificent  King.  The  second  winter  passed  pleasantly  at  the 
Fort  with  no  cessation  of  labor  in  preparing  building  materials;  or  in- 
terruption of  the  usual  exchange  of  polite  courtesies  between  the  officers 
and  the  elite  of  Kaskaskia  and  Cahokia.  Unrelaxed  military  vigilance 
was  maintained ;  and  the  peace  and  quietude  of  the  post  was  undisturbed, 
save  by  frequent  false  alarms  of  Indian  uprisings,  or  English  invasions. 

The  second  Easter  came  and  passed,  and  the  snow  and  ice  dis- 
appeared. The  hickory  buds  were  bursting  in  the  woods  tinged  with 
green ;  and  the  prairie  "lark,  just  up  from  the  south,  enlivened  the  scene 
with  his  cheery  notes.  One  beautiful  morning  in  the  early  spring.  Lieu- 
tenant Saucier  had  passed  out  of  the  river  gate,  on  a  tour  of  inspection 
of  that  portion  of  the  structure,  when  he  was  suddenly  startled  by  the 
discharg-e  of  a  musket  and  loud  shrieks  of  the  sentinel  stationed  on  the 

says,  but  a  league  from  Fort  Chartres.  The  day  on  which  the  avengers  arrived 
happened  to  be  one  of  the  numerous  fast  days  of  the  Catholic  church,  when  several 
of  the  Indians  from  the  village  had  gone  to  Fort  Chartres  to  witness)  the  cere- 
monies of  the  Church  there.  They  were  aU  who  survived  the  vengeance  of  the 
Foxes  who  slew  every  man,  woman  and  child  remaining  in  the  village,  excepting 
a  fifteen  year  old  girl  who  ran  to  Capt.  Bossu  for  protection  and  was  not  mo- 
lested Capt.  Bos.su  says  he  witnessed  this  massacre  "from  an  eminence  near  by  ; 
but  it  is  difficult  to  understand  what  "eminence"  he  found  there,  without  it  was 
one  of  the  ancient  prehistoric  Indian  mounds.  The  Foxes  reascended  the  Missis- 
sippi river,  firing  their  guns  in  triumph  as  they  passed  the   Cahokia  stockade. 


233 

river  bank  scarcely  a  rifle  shot  distant  from  where  he  stood.  Eushing 
to  the  spot  he  saw  the  soldier  wildly  gesticulating  and  loudly  calling  for 
help.  Glancing  over  the  river  bank,  the  Lieutenant  saw  the  cause  of  his 
agitation — a  sight  that  almost  paralyzed  him;  but  only  for  a  moment. 
Eulalie  and  her  maid,  lured  by  the  brilliance  of  the  perfect  day  to  re- 
sume their  canoe  excursions  suspended  during  the  long  winter,  had 
rowed  some  distance  up  the  great  stream,  and  returning,  when  but  a 
short  distance  from  the  landing,  a  puff  of  wind  blew  the  young  lady's 
hat  off  into  the  water.  In  her  effort  to  recover  it  she  capsized  the  canoe, 
and  the  two  girls  were  struggling  for  life  in  the  turbid  current  of  the 
river.  Lisette  was  clinging  to  the  upturned  dugout  with  one  hand,  and 
with  the  other  had  grasped  her  young  mistress  and  was  endeavoring  to 
support  her  head  above  the  treacherous  waves.  The  sentinel  on  duty 
there,  a  few  yards  away,  witnessed  the  accident,  but  as  he  had  never 
learned  to  swim,  was  powerless  to  afford  help;  yet,  had  the  presence 
of  mind  to  fire  his  gun  to  attract  assistance. 

As  the  Lieutenant  reached  the  water^s  edge  Lisette  lost  her  hold  of 
Eulalie  who  sank  beneath  the  surface.  Quick  as  thought,  he  threw  aside 
his  coat  and  hat  and  plunged  into  the  stream.  He  was  an  expert 
swinmier,  and  though  encumbered  with  his  clothing,  and  the  water  was 
very  cold,  he  caught  the  girl  as  she  was  disappearing,  and,  by  exertion 
that  only  such  an  emergency  could  inspire,  succeeded  in  bringing  her 
to  the  shore. 

When  Lisette  saw  her  mistress  sink  she  quit  the  canoe  to  attempt 
her  rescue ;  but  the  Lieutenant,  who  had  by  this  time  grasped  the  drown- 
ing girl,  called  to  the  servant  to  save  herself,  which  she  readily  did  by 
swimming  to  the  bank.  The  report  of  the  sentinel's  gun  and  his  frantic 
cries  were  immediately  answered  at  the  Fort  by  the  long  roll  of  the  drum, 
and  the  company  then  on  duty,  led  by  its  officers,  came  dashing  to  the 
place  of  supposed  attack.  A  hand  litter  was  quickly  improvised  upon 
which  Eulalie,  exhausted,  pale  and  unconscious,  but  still  breathing,  was 
placed,  warmly  enveloped  in  several  of  the  coats  that  nearly  every  mem- 
ber of  the  company  divested  himself  of  and  offered  for  the  purpose.  She 
was  hurriedly  taken  to  her  apartments,  where  the  post  surgeons,  aided 
by  all  the  ladies  of  the  garrison,  in  time,  resuscitated  her.  From  the 
river  bank  Lisette,  fatigued  and,  of  course,  dripping  wet,  walked  briskly 
behind  the  litter  borne  by  the  soldiers,  and  could  not  be  induced  to  lose 
sight  of  her  mistress  until  assured  that  all  immediate  danger  was  passed. 

Eulalie  was  saved  from  death  by  drowning;  but  the  shock  she  re- 
ceived, together  with  the  cold  immersion,  resulted  in  a  severe  attack  of 
pneumonia  that  brought  her  to  the  verge  of  collapse.  She  was  confined 
to  her  room  for  some  weeks,  for  several  days  in  the  balance  between  life 
and  death,  the  beam  finally  turning  in  her  favor.  The  wild  roses  and 
sunflowers  were  in  bloom  when  she  had  gained  sufficient  strength  to  sit 
in  the  dearborn,  or  caleche,  cushioned  around,  for  exercise  in  the  prairie 
in  the  early  mornings  and  evenings.  A  cough  she  had  contracted  during 
the  Christmas  festivities  became  aggravated  and  persistent.  The  melan- 
choly fact  that  she  was  now  an  invalid,  with  serious  pulmonary  trouble, 
was  apparent,  with  but  little  doubt  of  its  ultimate  result. 


234 

CHAPTEE  YI. 

Eakly  Navigation  of  the  Mississirn. 

Commimication  with  France,  b}'  the  residents  of  the  Illinois,  was 
at  that  era  slow  and  uncertain.  The  l^est  sailing  vessels  required  from 
two  to  four  months  to  cross  the  Atlantic;  and  often  tlial  length  of  time 
was  consumed  in  propelling  keel  boats,  or  lighter  craft,  from  Xew  Orleans 
to  Kaskaskia,  or  the  Fort.  About  half  the  same  period  of  time  was 
necessary  for  the  transmission  of  despatches  and  letters  from  Quebec,  by 
friendly  Indians,  or  hardy  Canadian  couriers,  to  the  Illinois  settlements. 
Traveling  by  either  route  was  irksome  and  laborious,  and  attended  by 
many  dangers,  particularly  when  passing  through  hostile  tribes  of  In- 
dians. 

Lieutenant  Saucier  called  frequently  on  Eulalie,  and  l)y  affecting 
much  cheerfulness  himself,  sought  to  stimulate  her  hopes,  and  inspire 
her  with  courage.  And  her  spirits  alwaj'S  revived  when  in  his  presence, 
or  within  sound  of  his  voice. 

Several  w'eeks  had  jDassed  since  Eulalie's  thrilling  experience  in  the 
river  when,  one  day,  a  courier,  accompanied  by  several  Indians,  arrived 
at  the  Fort  from  Quebec,  bringing  official  despatches  from  the  Governor 
General,  and  also  from  the  home  government,  and  European  mail  for  the 
Fort  and  surrounding  settlements.  When  the  Lieutenant  called  that 
evening,  as  usual,  at  the  Commandant's  quarters  to  enquire  how  the 
young  lady  had  passed  the  day,  and  to  assure  her  that  she  looked  better, 
he  received,  among  other  letters  from  France,  one  with  familiar  super- 
scription closed  with  a  black  seal,  which  he  pretended  not  to  notice  as  he 
hurriedly  put  it,  with  the  others,  in  his  pocket.  He  soon  excused  himself 
on  the  plea  of  duty,  and,  reaching  the  privacy  of  his  room,  tore  the 
black-sealed  missive  open  with  trembling  hands,  and  quivering  lips. 
It  was  from  Adel,  and  its  contents  caused  a  conflict  of  emotions;  of 
])rofound  grief  and  jo}',  of  sadness  and  pleasure,  that  plunged  him  in 
deep  thought,  oblivious  to  his  surroundings  for  a  long  time.  She  in- 
formed him  of  the  death  of  his  father ;  how  he  calmly  passed  away  with 
his  two  sons  and  military  brother  by  his  side;  how  his  priest  son  had 
administered  to  him  extreme  unction;  and  how  in  his  last  conscious 
moments  he  had  spoken  of,  and  invoked  the  blessings  of  heaven  upon  his 
youngest  and  beloved  son,  now  in  the  King's  service  far  away  in  New 
France.  She  described  the  funeral  ceremonies,  and  told  of  the  great 
concourse  of  friends  of  the  deceased  that  followed  his  body  to  the  grave. 
She  then  said  that  by  this  sad  event  her  father,  Pierre,  would  be  thrown 
out  of  employment,  as  the  estate  would  pass  into  other  hands,  and  that 
he  had  concluded  to  emigrate  to  America  and  try  his  fortunes  there. 
She  added  that  they  had  engaged  passage  in  a  vessel  named  L'Etoile  du 
Nord,  for  New  Orleans,  and  would  sail  from  the  port  of  Brest  about  the 
tenth  of  February.  In  a  postscript  she  told  him  he  need  not  answer 
her  letter,  as  their  preparations  for  leaving  the  dear  old  cottage  were 
then  nearly  completed. 

Young  Saucier  was  deeply  affected  by  the  death  of  his  father, 
though  he  had  passed  the  three  score  and  ten  allotted  to  humanity  and 
succumbed  to  the  inexorable  law  of  nature.    His  grief  was  mitigated  by 


235 

the  reflection  that  he  would  again  meet  Adel  and  her  dear,  dear  parents, 
much  sooner  than  his  most  sanguine  hopes  had  permitted  him  to  expect. 

After  entering  the  military  service  the  Lieutenant  was  always  re- 
ticent about  his  family  history  and  relatives,  and  confided  to  no  one  the 
profound  and  sincere  love  he  entertained  for  Adel.  For  reasons  of  his 
own  he  mentioned  to  no  one  the  information  Adel's  letter  had  conveyed, 
excepting  to  tell  of  his  father's  death  to  Chevalier  Makarty. 

He  was  now  mood}',  silent  and  reflective,  in  such  marked  contrast 
with  his  usual  social,  jovial  disposition,  as  to  attract  the  notice  of  his 
associates,  who  charitably  attributed  the  change  to  his  tender  solicitude 
for  the  invalid  girl  in  the  Fort,  now  slowly  fading  away.  How  to  dispose 
of  Pierre  and  Marie  when  they  arrived  gave  him  no  uneasiness,  as  he 
was  well  able  tinaucially  to  situate  them  comfortably  in  any  of  the 
neighboring  settlements.  But  there  was  another  matter  he  could  not  so 
easily  dispose  of,  that  he  now  had  to  consider.  He  was  fully  aware  of 
Eulalie's  fervent  regard  for  him ;  now  intensified  by  gratitude  for  having 
saved  her  life  at  the  risk  of  his  o^vn;  and  his  sense  of  honor  upbraided 
him  for  permitting  her  to  be  longer  deceived  respecting  the  true  senti- 
ments he  entertained  for  her.  He  concluded  he  would  frankly  tell  her 
that  another  had  a  prior  claim  to  his  affections.  But  then,  Adel  had 
never  spoken  or  written  to  him  of  love,  save  that  of  a  sister;  and,  for 
aught  he  knew,  she  might  then  be  the  jilighted  fiancee  of  another.  Hav- 
ing nerved  himself  to  the  point  of  making  a  full  disclosure  of  his  per- 
plexing thoughts  and  sentiments  to  Eulalie,  he  called  upon  her  for  that 
purpose.  His  resolution,  however,  failed  him  when,  seated  by  her  bed- 
side, he  took  her  feverish  hand  in  his  and  looked  into  her  shrunken, 
haggard  face.  He  saw  that  her  frail  condition  could  not  bear  such  a 
revelation;  and  he  esteemed  her  too  highly  to  subject  her  to  the  anguish 
of  mind  it  would  cause,  and  thereby  endanger  her  slender  hold  upon 
life;  and,  so,  postponed  his  intended  confession  to  a  more  propitious 
time. 

The  days  sped  by  and  he  continued  dreamily  to  discharge  his 
routine  duties  in  silence. 

The  time  had  arrived  for  the  annual  descent  of  the  fleet  of  keel  boats 
to  jSTew  Orleans  for  supplies  for  the  post.  The  voyage  that  year  was  one 
of  unusual  importance,  as  engineer's  reports  and  other  weighty  des- 
patches were  awaiting  transmission  to  France,  and  a  consideral^le  amount 
of  specie,  large  supplies,  and  a  company  of  recruits  for  the  Fort,  must 
be  brought  up  from  Xew  Orleans.  The  annual  voyages  to  and  from  Xew 
Orleans  were  generally  in  charge  of  a  subaltern  of  the  Commissary,  or 
Quartermaster's  department;  and  they  were  by  no  means  mere  pleasure 
jaunts.  The  lading  and  unloading  of  the  boats,  their  navigation,  con- 
trolling the  crews  of  boatsmen,  and  guarding  against  the  many  danfirers 
by  the  way,  involved  grave  responsibilities,  and  entailed  many  hardships, 
with  much  exposure  and  hard  labor;  requiring  vigilance,  prudence  and 
great  firmness.  The  boats  commonly  employed  in  this  service,  called 
pirogues  by  the  French  river  men,  were  large,  unwieldy,  clumsy  affairs, 
constructed  of  hewed  timbers  and  whip-sawed  plank  fastened  together 
with  wooden  pegs.  Floating  with  the  current  and  the  use  of  oars,  ren- 
dered descent  of  the  stream  comparatively  easy :  but  stemming  the  river's 
current  in  its  ascent  for  over  a  thousand  miles  was  accomplished  only 


236 

by  persistent  hard  work.  To  surmount  the  force  of  the  swift  current  for 
long  stretches  of  the  way,  or  to  pass  strong  eddies,  the  boats  were  "cor- 
deled" ;  that  is,  a  long  line  was  taken  ashore  and  carried  far  above,  where 
it  was  made  fast  to  a  tree  on  the  river's  bank.  The  boat  was  then  drawn, 
by  hand,  or  capstan,  to  that  point;  and  this  was  repeated  again  and 
again  until  calmer  water  was  reached,  when  the  oars  were  once  more 
plied.  When  practicable,  the  boats  were  drawTi  by  the  united  strength 
of  the  crew  walking  along  the  shore,  as  horses  draw  canal  boats.  At 
night,  when  going  up  stream,  the  boats  laid  by  in  willow  thickets  border- 
ing sand  bars,  or  islands,  for  safety  from  surprises  or  night  attacks  by 
hostile  Indians. 

CHAPTER  YII. 

A  Secoxd  Visit  to  Xew  OtlLeaxs. 

The  Commandant  was  about  to  detail  a  non-commissioned  officer 
for  that  summer's  voyage,  when  he  was  much  surprised  by  receiving  an 
application  from  Lieut.  Saucier  for  this  duty.  While  Major  Makarty 
would  not  have  ordered  a  commissioned  officer  for  this  onerous  service, 
he  was  pleased  when  Lieut.  Saucier  volunteered  for  it ;  for  he  knew  that 
it  could  not  be  entrusted  to  anyone  more  reliable,  or  more  capable  to 
conduct  it  successfully,  and  gladly  assented  to  his  request. 

Having  perfected  his  preparations,  the  Lieutenant  took  leave  of 
Eulalie,  promising  to  return  as  soon  as  jjossible,  and  expressing  the  hope 
that  he  would  find  her  much  better  when  he  came.  His  boats  were  fur- 
nished by  the  merchants  of  Kaskaskia  and  Cahokia,  free  of  charge  except- 
ing the  transportation  down  the  river  of  their  export  produce.  Some 
of  them  were  loaded  with  lead  in  bars  from  Eenault's  mines  at  New 
Potosi,  in  the  Spanish  territory  across  the  river;  others  carried  cargoes 
of  furs  obtained  in  trade  from  the  Indians;  others  with  beeswax,  dried 
venison,  buffalo  meat,  and  other  products  of  the  country.  Even  at  that 
early  day  much  wdieat  was  raised  by  the  habitants,  and  flour,  ground  by 
the  water  mills,  was  one  of  the  principal  exports  of  the  country. 

The  Lieutenant's  progress,  with  his  fleet,  down  the  river  was  rapid 
and  without  extraordinary  incident.  The  tedium  of  the  voyage  was 
lightened  by  his  anticipations  of  joy  in  meeting,  at  his  destination,  the 
loved  ones  who  had  left  France  some  months  before,  and  were  probably 
then  at  New  Orleans  awaiting  his  arrival.  In  imagination  he  pictured 
the  surprise  of  Pierre  and  Marie  upon  meeting  him,  and  wondered  how 
Adel  looked,  and  what  she  would  say. 

Arriving  at  New  Orleans,  after  securing  his  boats,  he  eagerly  en- 
quired along  the  river  front  for  the  expected  vessel,  L'Etoile  du  Nord, 
and  was  grievously  disappointed  when  told  that  nothing  had  yet  been 
heard  of  it.  After  paying  his  respects  to  Colonel  Kerleree,  the  then 
Governor  of  Louisiana,  he  secured  pleasant  lodgings,  and  proceeded  in- 
dustriously to  discharge  the  duties  of  his  mission.  The  Governor  court- 
eously took  charge  of  his  despatches,  to  transmit  them,  with  his  own,  to 
the  JNIinister  of  Marine  by  special  messenger.  Overhauling  and  refitting 
his  boats;  keeping  his  crews  of  boatsmen  under  control;  receiving,  re- 
ceipting for,  assorting  and  stowing  away  his  cargoes  of  munitions,  and 
supplies  of  various  kinds,  occupied  his  time  for  many  days.    Though  he 


237 

was  the  recipient  of  man}-  invitations  from  the  Governor,  officers,  and 
citizens,  to  dinners,  balls,  and  other  social  entertainments,  he  declined 
all  that  he  well  could  on  different  pretexts,  feeling  that  in  his  state  of 
mental  anxiety  they  would  afford  him  no  pleasure,  and  he  could  not 
acquit  himself  as  a  guest  with  credit. 

He  arose  every  morning  with  the  sun,  and  took  long  walks  along  the 
river  levee,  or  about  the  straggling  town;  and  often  during  the  day  he 
scanned  the  great  river  southward  hoping  to  catch  sight  of  an  incoming 
ship.  Occasionally  he  was  elated  by  seeing  in  the  distance  a  sail  slowly 
moving  toward  the  landing.  With  feverish  impatience  he  awaited  its 
arrival,  to  be  again  overcome  with  disappointment  when  it  proved  to  not 
be  the  vessel  he  was  expecting,  nor  bringing  any  news  of  it.  One  evening, 
after  an  unusually  busy  day,  he  again,  as  was  now  his  custom,  sought  the 
river  side,  with  a  lingering  hope  of  perhaps  gaining  some  tidings  of 
those  he  longed  to  see.  As  he  approached  the  river  he  was  astonished 
on  seeing  a  large  ship  moored  near  the  wharf,  from  which  its  passengers 
and  their  luggage  were  being  put  ashore.  The  setting  sun  had  touched 
the  line  of  verdure  that  fringed  the  western  river  bank,  and  its  departing 
rays  converted  the  broad  surface  of  the  stream  into  a  sheet  of  burnished 
gold.  The  resplendent  beauty  of  the  scene,  however,  was  lost  to  the 
Lieutenant  as  he  hurried  to  the  water's  edge  to  see  the  name  of  the  vessel. 
He  saw  it  painted  in  large  letters  above  the  rudder,  and  almost  sank 
from  revujsion  of  overwrought  hope  again  blasted.  The  name  he  read 
was  not  "L'Etoile  du  Nord",  but  "La  Cygne",  and,  as  he  soon  learned, 
from  Bordeaux,  France,  having  touched  on  the  way  in  at  Fort  Eoyale, 
in  Martinique.  Eallying  his  drooping  spirits  he  clambered  aboard  to 
make  inquiries  for  the  object  of  his  weary  watching.  Accosting  the 
Skipper  of  the  vessel,  he  asked  if  he  could  give  him  any  information 
of  "L'Etoile  du  Xord"  that  sailed  from  Brest  four  months  ago.  The 
burly  old  seaman,  apprised  by  the  questioner's  uniform,  that  he  was  a 
military  officer  in  the  King's  service,  touched  his  cap,  and  answ^ered 
courteously,  regretting  that  he  knew  nothing  of  the  ship;  but  said  his 
Commis  (Purser)  over  there  perhaps  did;  and  added,  so  far  as  he  knew, 
that  craft  had  not  been  heard  from  since  it  left  the  French  port.  The 
Purser,  a  brisk  young  man,  busy  with  pencil  and  entry  book,  overheard 
the  question  and  the  Skipper's  answer,  and  without  looking  up  from  his 
book  and  papers,  said,  "Is  it  of  tlio  French  ship,  L'Etoile  du  Xord, 
Monsieur  is  enquiring?" 

"Oui,  oui",  gasped  the  Lieutenant,  "can  you  tell  me  wlicre  she 
now  is?" 

"Yes";  answered  the  young  man,  between  rapid  strokes  of  his  pencil, 
"she  is  in  the  bay  of  St.  Pierre,  in  Martinique,  undergoing  repairs,  hav- 
ing had  a  disastrous  transit  of  the  ocean.  One  of  her  passengers  who 
came  aboard  this  ship  at  Fort  Eoyale,  and  has  not  yet  gone  ashore,  can 
probably  give  you  any  additional  information  you  may  desire". 

With  great  effort  to  appear  calm  the  Lieutenant  asked  the  busy 
Commis  if  he  would  lie  so  kiiul  as  to  point  out  to  him  the  person  men- 
tioned. 

"Certainly,  Monsieur ;  there  is  the  man,  in  white  clothing  and  broad 
brimmed  hat,  sitting  on  the  chest  by  the  main  mast". 

LIBRARY 
UNIVERSITY  OF  laiNOIS 
^T  URBANA- CHAMPAIGN 


238 

The  individual  in  white  clothing,  a  middle  aged  man  of  gaunt  frame, 
with  grizzled  hair  and  thin  sallow  face,  evidently  emaciated  bj-  prolonged 
sickness,  was  instantly  confronted  by  the  agitated  young  officer,  who 
asked : 

"^'ere  you  a  passenger  from  France  on  L'Etoile  du  Nord?" 

"Yes,  Monsieur,  I  was",  the  man  dryly  answered. 

"Tell  me,  please,  were  Pierre  Lepage  and  his  family  on  that  vessel?" 
was  the  next  anxious  inquiry. 

"They  were",  said  the  man  with  ominous  emphasis  on  the  "were". 

"Can  you  inform  me  where  they  now  are?"  faintly  asked  the  ques- 
tioner. 

"Yes.  Monsieur,  I  can",  replied  the  weary  looking  individual, 
"they  are  all  three  dead  and  at  the  bottom  of  the  sea". 

"Mon  Dieu-"  gasped  young  Saucier,  "that  surely  cannot  be  pos- 
sible''. 

"Yes :  it  is  indeed  possible,  and  too  true.  Did  you  know  them. 
Monsieur  ?" 

To,  this  question  the  Lieutenant  responded  that  he  did. 

"Pardon  me.  Monsieur",  added  the  stranger,  eyeing  him  closely, 
"may  I  ask  who  you  are?" 

"I  am  Jean  Baptiste  Saucier,  from  Lachapelle,  near  Orleans,  in 
France,  now  in  the  King's  military  service''. 

"Ah,  yes,  yes",  remarked  the  man  musingly,  "and  so  you  was  not 
slain  by  the  Lidians  as  was  reported?  I  see  how  v'ou  knew  Pierre  Le- 
page and  wife.  They  kept  house  for  your  father,  whom  I  knew  well; 
and  I  remember  you  when  a  school  boy  at  the  village  near  by  your 
father's  place.  My  name  is  Isadore  Brusier.  I  lived  in  Tours,  and  my 
business  occasionally  called  me  to  Orleans,  and  there  I  became  acquaint- 
ed Avith  your  father  and  his  son  Louis" 

"Pardon  me.  Monsieur  Bruiser",  interrupted  Jean  Baptiste,  "but 
please  tell  me  of  the  fate  of  the  Lepages". 

"'Ah-  Mon  cher  enfant",  feelingly  replied  M.  Brusier,  becoming 
([uite  communicative,  now  that  he  kneAv  to  whom  he  was  talking,  "I 
have  a  very  sad  story  to  tell  you.  You  have,  I  presume,  heard  of  the 
death  of  your  father?  Yes;  Aveli,  after  his  burial,  his  estate  was  sold 
for  partition  and  passed  into  possession  of  strangers;  so  Lepage  con- 
cluded to  leave  France  and  seek  a  new  home  in  America.  About  that 
time — fortunately  after  your  father  death — the  report  came  that  5'ou 
had  been  killed  in  battle  Avith  the  savages.  This  report,  believed  by  all 
to  be  true,  very  nearly  caused  Lepage  to  give  up  the  voyage  and  remain 
in  France, — and  would  to  God  that  he  had  done  so !  But  his  prepara- 
tions AA-ere  completed,  and  he  Avent  to  Brest  with  his  Avife  and  daughter, 
and  took  passage  on  the  ill-fated  ship  on  Avhich  my  brother  and  myself 
embarked. 

"The  voyage,  though  tedious,  was  not  unpleasant  until  Ave  had 
traversed  about  tAvo-thirds  of  the  way.  Avheu  Ave  were  struck  by  a  terrific 
storm,  coming  from  the  northeast,  that  continued  Avitli  unabated  fury, 
for  six  days.  Two  of  the  seamen  Avere  Avashed,  or  blown  aAvay,  as  was 
also  the  main  mast ;  and  the  ship  sprung  a  leak  that  threatened  to  sink 
us  to  the  l)ottom.     We  could  do  nothing  Init  keep  the  vessel  in  line  Avith 


239 

the  course  of  the  gale,  and  that  carried  us  far  out  of  our  way  in  tlio 
direction  of  Brazil.  It  is  well  that  L'Etoile  du  Xord  was  staunch  and 
well  built,  else  none  of  us  would  have  ever  reached  dry  land — and  not 
many  of  us  did,  as  it  turned  out. 

•'But  we  all  worked  the  pumps,  night  and  day,  and  kept  afloat. 
"When  the  storm  at  length  abated,  and  the  raging  sea  subsided,  the  leak 
m  the  hull  was  securely  closed,  and  by  crowding  on  all  the  sails  the  two 
remaining  masts  could  carry,  we  regained  our  course  and  made  fair 
licad way,"  being  driven  by  the  African  tradewinds.  All  this  was  bad 
enough ;  but  as  nothing  compared  to  what  fate  yet  had  in  store  for  us. 

•'What  with  calms,  and  storm  and  very  slow  sailing  we  had  been 
on  the  sea  for  three  months  or  more.  Our  supplies  of  water  and  pro- 
visions were  running  low;  but  we  were  all  well,  and  buoyed  up  by  the 
expectation  of  soon  sighting  some  one  of  the  West  India  Islands.  The 
weather  was  intensely  hot  and  the  little  water  remaining  in  our  casks 
was  scarcely  fit  to  drink.  Suddenly,  one  day,  one  of  the  passengers  was 
taken  violently  sick,  and  soon  died.  Then  another  was  prostrated  with 
the  same  symptoms  and  lived  but  a  short  time.  Then  we  realized  the 
appalling  fact  that  the  plague*  had  broken  out  among  us  and  we  were 
doomed  to  destruction  by  this  horrid  pestilence.  Lepage  was  among 
the  first  victims,  and  lived  but  twenty-four  hours.  He  was  always  jovial 
and  good  humored,  and  by  his  fine  flow  of  spirits,  had  materially  miti- 
gated the  dreariness  of  the  voyage,  and  greatly  aided  in  sustaining  the 
flagging  hopes  and  courage  of  all  on  board  throughout  all  our  troubles. 
"We  gently  lowered  his  body  into  the  sea;  but  had  no  time  to  indulge 
our  grief,  as  he  was  quickly  followed  by  others. 

•^"Tlie  terrible  disease  attacked  the  strong  as  well  as  the  weak,  the 
old  and  the  young  alike,  with  pitiless  severity.  The  only  mercy  it  ex- 
tended was  to  render  its  victims  speedily  unconscious.  The  ship's  cap- 
tain, surgeon,  half  the  crew,  and  more  than, half  of  the  passengers  fell 
before  the  awful  scourge  and  were  consigned  to  the  deep.  Madame 
Lepage.  Avho  had  been  untiring  in  ministering  to  the  sick  and  dying,  was 
spared  for  some  time ;  but,  at  length  she  was  stricken  down  and  soon 
breathed  her  last,  following  Pierre  to  an  unmarked  grave.  We  were 
now  approaching  the  West  India  Islands,  and  very  eager  to  reach  land 
— any  land — so  that  those  of  us  who  survived  might  abandon  the  in- 
fected vessel  and  flee  to  the  shore  for  our  lives.  Only  a  day  and  a  night 
after  we  had  given  to  the  Avaves  the  body  of  Marie  Lepage,  her  daughter. 
Adel.  already  exhausted  by  grief  and  attention  to  the  sick,  was  seized 
by  tlie  dreadful  epidemic,  and  quickly  succumbed  to  its  deadly  viru- 
lence. T  was  bathing  her  head  with  sea  water,  in  her  death  struggles, 
when  all  at  once  I  felt  very  sick.  The  ship  seemed  to  be  rapidly  whirl- 
ing around;  everything  became  dark,  and  I  fell  to  the  deck  unconscious. 

"When  I  awoke,  as  though  from  a  long,  troubled  sleep,  I  was  in  a 
large  shed-like  house  thatched  with  palm  leaves,  on  the  highlands  in  the 
northern  part  of  the  island  of  Martinique,  where  my  brother,  who  was 
of  the  number  not  attacked  by  the  plague,  had  me  immediately  brought 
from  the  ship — we  having  entered  the  Bay  of  St.  Pierre,  in  that  island  a 
few  hours  after  I  had  fallen.     There  he  and  others  took  care  of  me  until 


Probably   a   virulent    form   of  Asiatic   cholera. 


240 

I  recovered.  My  brother  having  secured  employment  at  Fort  Royale 
will  remain  there  until  winter  and  then  join  me  here  where  we  will  en- 
gage in  business.  As  soon  as  the  anchor  was  dropped  in  the  Bay  of  St. 
Pierre  my  brother  had  me  carried  to  the  highest  part  of  the  island — as 
far  as  he  could  go  from  the  death  smitten  ship — without  stopping,  and 
I  have  seen  none  of  our  surviving  fellow-passengers  since.  I  learned, 
however,  before  leaving  Fort  Eoyale,  that  L'Etoile  du  Kord  was  at  once 
deserted  by  all  the  survivors  aboard,  and  is  still  in  the  Bay  of  St.  Pierre 
being  thoroughly  repaired." 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
A  Brush  with  Southekx  Ixdiaxs. 

Lieutenant  Saucier  sat  as  though  stupefied  while  listening  to  Mon- 
sieur Brusier's  startling  narrative,  and  only  by  a  mighty  effort  could  he 
control  his  emotions  when  the  narrator  depicted  the  closing  scene  of 
Adel's  young  life.  How  he  left  the  La  Cygne  and  got  back  to  his  quar- 
ters in  the  town  he  never  could  remember.  In  the  solitude  of  his  room 
he  contended  with  his  great  grief  through  the  sleepless,  restless,  night. 
He  was  literally  prostrated  with  the  weight  of  sorrow  that  taxed  all  his 
fortitude  to  bear.  His  glowing  day  dreams  were  cruelly  dissipated,  and 
even  hope  had  vanished  and  left  him  dismally  alone  in  the  world  with 
nothing  further  to  live  for.  The  next  morning  was  ushered  in  with 
rain;  and  dense  black  clouds  covered  the  sky  like  a  pall,  as  though  the 
very  elements  were  testifying  their  sympathy  with  the  young  soldier's 
^Aoeful  wretchedness.  Pleading  indisposition,  he  remained  in  his  room 
and  excused  himself  to  all  who  called  on  him.  In  the  evening  a  messen- 
ger from  the  Governor  informed  him  that  the  company  of  recruits  foi" 
the  force  at  Fort  Chartres,  he  "^vas  expecting,  had  arrived,  and  begged 
him  to  call  at  the  executive  office  next  morning  to  arrange  for  their 
transportation  up  the  river.  This  had  some  effect  to  divert  his  mind 
from,  and  somewhat  relieve  it  of,  the  dark  gloom  that  had  fallen  upon 
him. 

The  next  morning,  he  arose  early,  as  usual,  resolved,  if  possible, 
not  to  be  overcome  by  his  misfortunes;  but  to  assert  his  manhood,  and 
continue  the  conflicts  of  life  with  all  the  firmness  he  possessed.  At  the 
appointed  hour  he  called  at  the  Governor's  office  with  little,  if  any,  exter- 
nal indication  of  the  soul-racking  torture  he  was  enduring.  Arrange- 
ments for  additional  boats  and  provisions  were  perfected  in  a  few  days; 
and  then,  having  neither  incentive  or  desire  to  longer  remain  in  the 
melancholy  place,  he  hurried  the  preparations  for  his  departure  as 
rapidly  as  possible.  In  less  than  a  week  after  his  interview  with  the 
Governor  he  was  ready  to  start,  courting,  rather  than  dreading,  the 
perils  and  hardships  that  he  knew  awaited  him. 

x\.s  the  prevailing  winds  at  that  time  of  the  year  are  from  the  south, 
Lieutenant  Saucier  concluded  to  try  the  experiment,  when  they  blew 
with  sufficient  force  from  that  direction,  of  utilizing  them  in  propelling 
his  boats.  Accordingly  he  caused  a  light,  strong  and  movable  mast  to 
be  stepped  in  each  of  his  pirogues,  rigged  with  spars  and  sails.     Several 


241 

of  his  recruits,  enlisted  about  the  seaport  towns  of  France,  were  familiar 
with  the  management  of  sailboats,  and  these  he  installed  as  his  navi- 
gators. 

At  length  all  was  in  readiness,  his  bills  were  all  settled,  his  cargoes 
snngly  stowed  in  the  boats,  and  his  round  of  farewell  calls  ended.  His 
men  were  in  superb  condition  for  service,  and  at  the  dawn  of  one  of  the 
closing  days  of  July,  he  left  'New  Orleans  with  his  fleet  having  every 
sail  set  and  filled  by  a  stiff  breeze  from  the  Gulf.  Not  a  sail  was  furled 
during  the  entire  day,  and  they  proved  valuable  adjuncts  to  the  oars. 
The  sun  in  setting  must  have  passed  the  new  moon,  as  it  appeared  in 
the  early,  twilight  a  little  yvny  above  the  western  horizon,  and  was  pro- 
nounced by  the  sages  amojig  the  crews,  a  "dry"  moon,  angering  a  pro- 
pitious voyage  and  pleasant  weather.  The  river  was  at  that  season  at 
its  lowest  stage,  and  its  current,  in  consequence,  at  its  slowest  rate:  so, 
the  progress  of  the  flotilla,  if  not  rapid,  was  quite  satisfactory.  In  pro- 
pelling the  boats  the  men  had  regular  relays  at  the  oars,  and  when  off 
duty,  some  slept,  others  fished,  and  a  few,  with  musical  talent,  enlivened 
tiie  toil  of  their  comrades  with  exhilirating  strains  of  the  violin. 

Everything  went  w^ell  until  the  mouth  of  the  Arkansas  was  passed. 
Indians  at  several  places  along  the  river,  had  come  to  the  boats  in  their 
canoes  in  friendship,  to  beg,  or  to  barter  game  they  had  killed  for  calico 
and  brass  ornaments;  but  though  manifesting  no  unfriendly  disposition 
then  they  were  known  to  be  treacherous  and  utterly  unreliable.  To 
guard  against  night  attacks  of  hostile  savages  ashore — for  there  was  no 
danger  whatever  from  them  in  midstream,  or  in  day  time — keelboatmen 
cautiously  landed  on  one  side  of  the  river  in  the  evening,  or  on  an  island, 
and  there  made  fires  and  spread  their  meals.  Then  exting-uishing  the 
fires,  resumed  their  course  for  a  short  distance,  and  tied  up  on  the  oppo- 
site shore  until  morning. 

On  the  evening  of  the  fourth  day  after  having  passed  the  mouth 
of  the  Arkansas  river,  the  sky  became  heavily  overcast  with  dark  clouds, 
and  the  rumbling  thunder  and  vivid  lighting  were  sure  harbingers  of  an 
approaching  storm.  The  boats  that  had  been  lined  up  on  the  Arkansas 
side  of  the  river  for  the  evening  repast,  were  hastily  cast  loose,  and,  as 
customary,  rowed  to  the  opposite  side,  in  the  rain  and  darkness,  and 
made  fast  to  the  overhanging  trees  there  for  the  night.  Not  an  Indian 
had  been  seen  during  the  day  on  either  side  of  the  river;  or  any  indi- 
cation of  their  presence  observed  anywhere.  By  the  time  the  boats  were 
secured  to  the  river  bank,  and  the  tarpaulins  drawn  over  each,  the  rain 
(iescended  in  torrents,  and  continued  for  the  greater  part  of  the  night. 

At  early  dawn  next  morning,  the  rain  had  ceased,  but  the  sky  was 
still  obscured  by  clouds,  and  the  air  was  hot  and  sultry.  The  men,  glad 
to  escape  from  the  sweltering  confinement  of  the  boats,  leaped  ashore 
with  the  first  rays  of  light  in  the  east,  and  began  to  kindle  fires  to  pre- 
pare their  breakfast.  A  few  of  them  had  the  precaution  to  take  their 
arms  with  them  as  they  left  the  boats,  probably  from  force  of  habit.  Of 
this  number  was  Lieutenant  Saucier,  who  never  went  ashore  without  his 
tiiisty  carbine.  While  all  were  busily  engaged  in  search  of  fuel  dry 
enough  to  feed  the  flickering  fires,  they  w^ere  suddenly  assailed  by  a 

—16  H  S 


243 

shower  of  bullets  from  the  surrounding  trees  and  undergrowth,  followed 
by  a  chorus  of  unearthly  yells  and  whoops,  as  a  large  band  of  hideously 
painted  savages  rushed  wildly  upon  them.  The  few  Frenchmen  armed 
stood  their  ground,  and  with  steady  aim  returned  the  fire  of  their  assail- 
ants as  they  advanced,  then  clubbing  their  guns  went  fearlessly  into 
the  fight.  Those  without  their  arms  fled  to  the  boats  to  secure  them, 
and  very  soon  returned  with  the  balance  of  their  comrades  who  had  not 
before  landed,  all  well  armed,  and  lost  no  time  in  coming  to  the  siipport 
of  those  holding  the  Indians  at  bay.  They  charged  upon  the  horde  of 
red  demons,  who  had  not  had  time  to  reload  their  guns,  with  such  fury, 
that  the}'  fell  back,  and  scattered  in  full  retreat.  In  this  brief  but 
spirited  engagement  the  Frenchmen  fought  with  the  courage  and  pre- 
cision of  well-trained  veterans.  They  followed  up  the  advantage  their 
first  charge  gave  them,  and  advanced  in  quick  time,  firing  at  the  retreat- 
ing foe  as  long  as  one  of  them  could  be  seen.  At  the  first  appearance 
of  the  Indians,  Lieutenant  Saucier  fired  and  killed  the  one  nearest  him ; 
then  seizing  his  carbine  by  its  muzzle  he  brained  the  next  one,  and  struck 
right  and  left,  at  the  same  time  cheering  his  men  on,  until  his  reinforce- 
ments came  up,  when  he  led  them  on  until  the  enemy  was  dispersed. 
He  was  twice  wounded,  but  not  seriously,  and  was  not  aware  of  having 
received  any  injury  until  the  fight  was  all  over.  The  Frenchmen  lost 
l)ut  one  man,  one  of  the  new  recruits  was  killed,  but  several  of  the  others 
were  more  or  less  severely  wounded.  Seven  of  the  Indians  were  left  dead 
on  the  gTound,  and  several  more  so  badly  wounded  they  could  not  escape, 
and  they,  the  infuriated  boatmen  despatched  without  mercy.  They 
breakfasted  without  further  molestation,  then  pushed  off,  continuing 
their  voyage,  taking  with  them  the  body  of  the  dead  soldier  which  they 
buried  at  evening  on  the  western  side  of  the  river.  The  wounded  were 
made  as  comfortable  as  possible,  and  they  proceeded,  with  more  caution, 
and  without  further  incident  or  accident,  to  their  destination. 

CHAPTER  IX. 

Death  of  the  Commandant's  Daughtek. 

The  first  frosts  of  early  autumn  had  tinged  the  dark  green  maples 
with  scarlet  and  gold,  and"  the  ripening  hickory  nuts  and  pecans  were 
beginning  to  fall,  when  the  long  line  of  boats  were  drawn  up  to  the  Fort 
landing.  The  commander  of  the  successful  expedition,  Avho  had  not  yet 
recovered  entirely  from  his  wounds,  looked  haggard  and  careworn. 
Leaving  the  boats,  he  marched  the  recruits,  not  disabled  from  wounds 
or  sickness,  to  the  barrack.s,  and  then  repaired  to  the  Commandant's 
quarters.  His  knock  at  the  door  was  answered  by  Lisette  who  to  his 
hurried  inquiries,  told  him  her  young  mistress  was  very  low,  and  daily 
failing  in  vitality;  also,  that  as" long  as  she  could  speak  she  had  asked 
about  him  every  day,  and  prayed  that  she  might  see  him  again  before 
she  was  called  away  to  her  mother.  Following  the  devoted  servant  into 
the  sick  chamber  he  was  shocked  upon  seeing  the  ravages  wrought  l^y  the 
unrelenting  disease  during  his  absence.  The  sunken  cheeks  flushed  with 
hectic  fever,  the  glistening  eyes,  the  cruel,  persistent  cough  and  hot,  dry 
hands,  plainly  told  that  the  fair  young  girl  was  doomed  and  her  life 


243 

nearing  its  close.  She  spoke  his  name  in  a  husky  whisper  as  she  extended 
her  thin  bloodless  hand,  and  a  gleam  of  radiant  joy  lighted  her  wan 
features  Avhen  he  pressed  it,  and  implanted  a  kiss  upon  her  forhead. 
She  was  too  far  exhausted  to  speak  to  him;  but  the  mute  eloquence  of 
her  expression  assured  him  that  his  presence  afforded  her  real  comfort 
and  happiness.  Almost  heartbroken  already  by  M.  Brusier's  narrative, 
the  pathetic  sadness  of  Eulalie's  condition  very  nearly  overpowered  him. 
All  the  strength  he  could  command  was  required  to  control  his  feelings 
while  by  her  side,  and  not  add  to  her  distress  by  an  exhibition  of  emo- 
tional weakness.  With  great  effort  he  appeared  cheerful,  and  tried  to 
speak  to  her  in  the  pleasant,  airy  strain  of  other  days — and  partially 
succeeded.  But  he  could  not  long  sustain  this  imnatural  simulation, 
and,  with  a  promise  to  call  again  in  a  short  time,  he  took  leave  of  her 
and  hurried  to  his  own  quarters,  and  there  found  relief  in  unmanly  tears 
that  could  no  longer  be  repressed. 

The  arrival  of  the  boats  with  stores,  mails  and  recruits,  was  an. 
exciting  event  at  the  Fort.  From  the  Commandant  down  to  the  serv- 
ants, all  were  elated  and  eager  to  hear  an  account  of  the  voyage,  and 
learn  what  was  going  on  in  the  outer  world.  The  pirogues  were  unloaded 
and  sent  back  to  Kaskaskia ;  the  sick  and  wounded  were  carried  to  their 
separate  wards  in  the  hospital ;  the  munitions  were  safely  placed  in  the 
magazine,  and  other  supplies  in  the  store  rooms;  and  the  voluminous 
mail  matter  promptly  distributed.  Lieutenant  Saucier  was  weak  and 
still  suffering  from  his  wounds,  and  sorely  depressed  in  mind;  but  re- 
fused to  be  billeted  by  the  post  surgeon  to  the  hospital,  and  applied  him- 
self as  diligently  as  his  condition  permitted  to  writing  the  report  of  his 
transactions  in  Xew  Orleans,  and  of  his  fight  with  the  Indians,  and  all 
other  important  incidents  of  his  memorable"  descent  and  ascent  of  the 
gi"eat  river.  He  visited  Eulalie  every  day  as  often  as  his  duties  per- 
mitted, and  experienced  some  assuagement  of  the  oppressive  affliction 
he  was  bearing  in  silence,  by  his  efforts  to  soothe  and  mollify  the  fleeting 
hours  of  her  waning  life.  He  recounted  his  adventures  on  the  river, 
and  told  her  of  amusing  incidents  and  strange  sights  he  had  witnessed 
at  New  Orleans;  and  by  interesting  her  in  that  way  sought  to  detract 
her  attention  from  the  gloom  and  misery  of  her  mournful  fate. 

A  week,  or  more,  had  passed  since  the  arrival  of  the  boats  at  the 
Fort,  and  the  commotion  that  event  caused  had  gi-adually  subsided  to 
the  ordinary  routine  life  of  the  post.  One  beautiful  morning  in  the 
mellow  haze  of  lovely  Indian  summer,  the  bright  sunshine  streaming 
through  the  invalid's  open,  window,  and  the  soft,  invigorating  breeze 
fanned  her  wasted  form,  the  Lieutenant  sat  b)^  her  side  with  her  small 
hand  clasped  in  his ;  her  brilliant  blu.e  eyes  were  fixed  upon  his  sad  face, 
a  sweet  smile  played  upon  her  pallid  lips,  and  then,  without  sigh  or 
tremor,  her  spirit  took  its  flight,  so  gently  and  quietly  that,  for  several 
moments,  those  around  her  could  scarcely  realize  that  the  struggle  was 
ended. 

"Eulalie  is  dead",  was  whispered  throughout  the  garrison,  and  all 
was  hushed;  all  labor  suspended;  the  flag  floating  from  the  highest 
bastion  was  lowered  to  half  mast  and  the  great  fortress  became  at  once 
a  house  of  mourning.  They  draped  her  cold  body  in  robes  of  spotless 
white,  and  laid  it  in  state  in  the  large  hall,  where  she  had,  in  hoaltb. 


244 

reigued  as  queen  of  the  dance  and  joj^ous  festivities,  and  received  the 
homage  of  all  in  her  social  realm.  Then  placed  in  a  coffin  covered  with 
white  velvet,  they  conveyed  her  to  the  church  in  Kaskaskia,  preceded  by 
a  guard  of  honor  with  arms  reversed,  the  flag  craped  and  drums  muffled, 
followed  by  all  the  officers  and  ladies  of  the  Fort,  and  a  large  concourse 
of  civilians  from  the  adjacent  settlements.  After  the  sacred  offices  of 
the  priests  she  was  tenderly  consigned  to  the  grave  in  the  village  ceme-' 
tery  near  the  church  and  buried  with  military  honors. 

CHAPTER  X. 

Defeat  of  Washington  at  Fort  Necessity. 

The  grand  object  to  be  the  attained  in  rebuilding  Fort  Chartres 
was  the  permanent  security'  of  French  possessions  on  the  Mississippi, 
and,  incidentally,  the  maintenance  of  peace.  But  the  great  work  was 
not  completed  when  hostilities  between  England  and  France  again  com- 
menced. Their  respective  military  forces  in  America,  ever  at  variance, 
were  not  long  in  engaging  in  earnest  conflict.  In  the  month  of  May, 
1754,  one  George  Washington,  a  Virginian,  in  the  service  of  the  English 
King,  commanding  a  body  of  militia  from  his  native  state,  then  stationed 
in  Pennsylvania,  surprised  Coulon  de  Jumonville  with  a  small  detach- 
ment of  French  soldiers,  near  the  Youghiogeny,  (not  far  from  the  pres- 
ent city  of  Connellsville,  in  Fayette  county),  and  defeated  him,  Jumon- 
ville falling  at  the  first  fire,  shot  through  the  head.* 

The  report  of  this  affair,  and  its  resultant  disaster  to  the  French 
arms,  when  received  at  Fort  Chartres  produced  the  wildest  consterna- 
tion, and  fired  the  military  ardor  of  the  inactive  garrison.  ISTeyon  de 
Villiers,  the  senior  Captain  of  Chevalier  Makarty's  command,  a  brother- 
in-law  of  Jumonville,  asked  leave  of  the  Commandant  to  march  to  the 
scene  of  conflict  and  assist  in  avenging  the  death  of  his  relative  and  re- 
gaining the  lost  prestige  of  France  in  that  quarter.  This  leave  he  readily 
obtained;  and,  with  alacrity,  began  his  preparations  for  the  expedition. 

To  the  depressed  mind  of  Lieutenant  Saucier  the  excitement  and 
hazard  of  this  undertaking  offered  alluring  promise  of  relief.  He  felt 
willing  to  undergo  any  hardships;  or  risk  any  danger  that  would  tend 
to  revive  his  broken  spirits  and  divert  his  thoughts  from  the  sad  occur- 
rences of  the  past  few  months.'  He  volunteered  his  services,  and  was 
granted  permission  by  the  Commandant  to  accompany  Capt.  de  Villiers 
as  one  of  his  Lieutenants.  A  hundred  picked  men  were  selected  and 
fully  equipped  with  everything  necessary  for  the  long  journey.  The 
boats  were  overhauled  and  put  in  order.  Embarking,  they  proceeded 
down  the  Mississippi,  then  up  the  Ohio  to  Fort  du  Quesne,  where  they 
joined  the  force  of  Coulon  de  Villiers,  an  elder  brother  of  the  Captain. 
They  there  organized  their  men  in  four  companies  under  trusted  offi- 
cers, and  sallied  forth  in  the  quest  of  the  enemy.  Washington,  apprised, 
by  Indians  friendly  to  the  Britisli,  of  the  advancing  French,  retreated 
to  the  Great  Meadow,  a  short  distance  from  the  spot  where  he  had  as- 
sassinated Ensign  Jumonville,  a  short  time  before.  There  he  sought 
safety  in  Fort  Necessity,  a  temporary  defense  of  little  strength,  and 

•  "Judge  it  as  we  may,  this  obscure  skirmish  began  the  war  that  set  tlie  world 
on  fire."     Montcalm  and  Wolf.     By  Francis  Parkman.     Vol.  1.  p.  150. 


245 

awaited  the  avengers.  lie  had  not  long  to  wait.  De  Villiers  was  soou 
upon  him,  and  investing  his  entrenchments,  poured  in  upon  him  a  mur- 
derous fire  from  all  sides.  The  engagement  lasted  nine  hours.  Wash- 
ington seeing  the  futility  of  contending  longer  with  such  a  superior  and 
determined  foe,  after  a  short  parlay,  surrendered.  The  French,  mag- 
nanimously permitted  him  to  march  out  with  side  arms  and  camp  equip- 
age. In  tills  affair  Washington  lost  twelve  killed  and  forty-three  wound- 
ed. He  returned  to  the  east  side  of  the  AUeghanies,  leaving  not  an 
Englishman  or  English  flag  on  their  western  side.  On  leaving  Fort 
Necessity,  Washington's  Indian  allies  killed  all  his  horses  and  cattle, 
plundered  his  baggage,  knocked  his  medicine  chest  in  pieces,  and  killed 
and  scalped  two  of  his  wounded  men.  Left  with  no  means  of  trans- 
portation his  men  were  obliged  to  carry  their  sick  and  wounded  on  their 
backs.*  He  commenced  his  retreat  on  the  fourth  of  July,  a  day  after- 
ward made  glorious  to  a  new  born  nation.  The  Fort  Chartres  contin- 
gent returned  to  the  Mississippi  flushed  with  victory,  and  without  loss 
of  a  man. 

They  received  a  royal  welcome  from  the  garrison,  and  their  suc- 
cessful humiliation  of  Mr.  Washington  and  his  loyal  militia  was  cele- 
brated in  all  the  settlements  around  the  Fort  with  prolonged  festivities. 

Xot  long  after  the  return  of  this  expedition  a  courier  arrived  at  the 
Fort  from  Montreal  with  important  despatches  from  the  home  govern- 
ment and  from  the  Governor  General  of  Canada.  Among  those  papers 
were  commissions  of  promotion,  as  rewards,  for  several  of  the  officers 
and  men  who  had  faithfully  discharged  their  duties  in  the  erection  of 
the  new  Fort.  Of  those  thus  rewarded  by  the  King,  Major  ]\Iakarty  was 
advanced  to  the  rank  of  Colonel,  and  Lieutenant  Saucier  to  that  of 
Captain. 

English  emissaries  were  soon  busy  among  the  Indians  all  through 
the  west  attempting  to  win  them  over  to  their  cause.  And  by  liberal 
presents,  more  liberal  promises,  and  misrepresentations,  were  successful 
in  seducing  several  of  the  tribes  from  their  allegiance  to,  and  friendship 
for,  the  French.  This  change  of  policy  by  the  savages  caused  much 
imcasiness  and  some  trouble  at  Fort  Chartres.  A  British  invasion  was 
among  the  possibilities  expected;  but  no  immediate  danger  of  a  general 
uprising  of  Illinois  Indians  was  apprehended.  Yet,  the  scattered  settle- 
ments required  protection,  particularly  from  threatened  inroads  of  the 
Chickasaws  about  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio  river.  Companies  were  de- 
tailed for  police  duty  to  different  points,  and  .frequent  excursions  were 
made  in  the  interior  of  the  country  by  detachments  of  soldiers  to  punish 
marauding  bands  of  Indians.  Chevalier  de  Yolsci  and  his  men  having 
been  ordered  to  Canada,  Major  Makarty  sent  Capt.  Saucier  to  take  com- 
mand of  the  fort  at  Cahokia.  This  stockade  was  situated  near  the  center 
of  the  village  just  across  the  road  from  the  church,  and  was  spacious 
enough  to  contain  the  entire  population  of  the  town  in  case  resort  to  it 
for  protection  was  at  any  time  necessary,  f     Captain  Saucier  was  quite 

•  Montcalm   and  Wolf.     By  Francis   Parkman.     Vol.   1.     pp.    147-161. 

t  In  the  course  of  certain  improvements  on  the  old  .Jarnot  place  in  Cahokia, 
made  in  1890  by  Nicholas  McCracken,  the  proprietor,  there  was  dug  up  part  of  a 
large  mulberry  post,  much  decayed,  believed  to  have  been  one  of  the  gate  posts 
of  the  fort,  planted  there  150   years  before. 


240 

a  favorite  among  the  Caliokians;  and  while  commanding  there  was  very 
successful,  not  in  fighting  the  discontented  Indians,  but  in  pacifying 
them  and  regaining  their  friendship. 

When  spring  returned  peace  prevailed  throughout  the  Illinois,  and 
the  scattered  soldiers  were  recalled  to  the  Fort.  The  tribes  in  upper 
Louisiana;  or,  more  properly,  along  the  Mississippi  river  below  the  Ohio, 
however,  were  reported  to  have  joined  the  English — as  all  the  eastern 
colonists  were  called — ,  and  were  harassing  the  whites  engaged  in  navi- 
gation of  the  river.  One  of  the  first  pirogues  enroute  for  New  Orleans 
was  captured  by  them,  and  its  crew  were  all  slain. 

The  time  had  again  arrived  for  dispatching  the  boats  to  Xew  Or- 
leans for  the  garrison's  annual  supplies.  In  the  then  hostile  attitude 
of  the  southern  Indians,  it  was  necessary  to  select  for  this  service  men 
of  tried  courage  and  en^lurance,  and  a  commander  of  prudence,  firmness 
and  experience.'  Besides  the  supplies  that  might  be  drawn  from  the 
Quartermaster's  and  Commissary's  departments  in  New  Orleans,  it 
would  be  necessary  to  purchase  considerable  quantities  of  stores  there 
for  the  troops  at  the  Fort.  There  were  also  expected  at  New  Orleans 
important  despatches,  and  a  large  sum  of  money,  from  France,  for  the 
Commandant,  and  Paymaster  at  the  Fort ;  and  it  was  very  desirable  that 
all  these  valuables  should  be  brought  up  the  river  in  safety. 

After  pondering  the  matter  over  for  sometime.  Col.  Makarty  sent 
for  Captain  Saucier,  and  asked  him  if  he  would  undertake  the  manage- 
ment of  the  voyage,  stating  that  he  would  not  detail  him  for  that  service 
if  he  preferred  not  to  go;  but  that  he  would  regard  it  a  personal  favor 
if  he  would  accept  the  perilous  office.  The  Captain  answered,  without 
hesitation,  that  he  was  one  of  the  King's  soldiers,  ready  at  any  time  to 
go  wherever  required,  and  this  duty  would  suit  him  as  well  as  any. 

The  late  spring  rains  had  long  since  ceased.  The  waters  had  re- 
ceded from  the  low,  overflowed  lands,  to  the  lowest  level  of  their  ac- 
customed channels.  The  sandbars  had  reapjoeared  with  barren  promi- 
nence above  the  river's  surface,  when  Capt.  Saucier  repaired  to  Kas- 
kaskia,  and  put  his  fleet  of  boats  in  readiness,  as  before.  He  was  fortu- 
nate in  finding  the  best  men  of  his  former  crews,  whom  he  engaged ;  and 
taking  from  the  Fort  a  few  of  the  most  reliable  enlisted  men  who  were 
with  him  on  his  former  voyage,  he  once  more  bid  adieu  to  the  Illinois, 
and  set  his  flotilla  in  the  current  of  the  great  river.  He  again  took  his 
departure  Avhen  the  young  moon  was  a  silvered  crescent  about  to  drop 
into  the  dark  western  forest;  choosing  this  phase  of  that  orl)  for  leaving, 
not  from  superstitious  notions;  but  becaiise  he  would  have  light  at  night 
for  some  time,  enabling  him  to  continue  his  course  with  the  least  possible 
delays. 

At  only  two  points  on  the  river  were  hostile  demonstrations  made 
by  the  Indians,  and  these  he  repulsed  without  trouble,  being  constantly 
on  his  guard.  By  the  exercise  of  cool  judgment  and  careful  manage- 
ment he  reached  his  destination  in  comparatively  a  short  time,  without 
casualties,  or  encountering  extraordinary  hardships. 


347 

(TTAPTER  XI. 
J  N  N  K  w  Oh  lea  n  s  Ag  a  j  x  . 

Thiity-seveii  years  had  passed  since  the  first  settlement  was  made  at 
Xevr  Orleans  by  Bienville;  and  it  was  already  a  pretentious  town*,  the 
metropolis  of  all  the  vast  territory  claimed  by  the  French  Crown  from 
the  Gulf  to  the  great  northern  lakes;  and  the  commercial  and  niilitaiy 
gateway  to  all  that  region.  The  primitive  architecture  of  the  place  gave 
it  the  appearance  of  an  irregular  collection  of  huts  with  streaks  of  mud 
for  streets.  Yet,  that  early,  much  wealth  was  concentrated  there,  which 
— as  in  older  communities — had  the  effect  of  creating  social  distinctions 
among  its  people.  Squalor  and  poverty  were  conspicuous  in  some  quar- 
ters of  the  place,  while  in  others  Parisian  opulence  and  splendor,  and 
Parisian  styles  and  fashions  were  lavishly  displayed.  An  aristocratic 
class  had  been  fostered  there  by  the  late  Governor  of  Louisiana,  Pierre 
de  Eegaud,  Marquis  do  Yaudreuil,  who,  a  short  time  before,  was  trans- 
ferred to  Quebec  as  Governor  General,  of  Canada,  superceding  there  M. 
de  Gallisoniere.  De  Vaudreuil's  pomp  and  state;  his  sumptuous  style 
of  living,  punctilious  etiquette  and  courtly  manners,  which  found  many 
servile  imitators,  caused  his  official  residence,  or  chateau,  on  Eue  Pon- 
chartrain,  to  be  named  by  the  populace  "Le  Petite  Versailles"'.  The 
shipping  interests  of  the  town  were  represented  by  large  and  connnodi- 
ous  warehouses,  and  the  many  gay  shops  and  elegant  stores  gave  evidence 
of  commercial  prosperity.  The  Jesuits  were  there,  of  course,  since  1727 ; 
i)ut  the  only  edifices  yet  erected  by  the  church  were  the  Ursuline  Con- 
vent, Hospital,  and  Chapel.  Xew  Orleans  was  made  the  capital  of  Louis- 
iana in  1721.  On  going  ashore  from  his  boat,  near  the  spot  where  the 
Captain  had  met  Monsieur  Brusier  when  last  here,  the  memory  of  that 
gentleman's  doleful  story  was  revived,  with  thp  wretched  dispiriting 
effect  he  had  experienced  when  listening  to  it.  A  feeling  of  extreme 
misery  crept  over  him  as  he  reviewed  the  cru^l  fate  of  those  he  loved, 
his  blighted  hopes,  and  lonely  life.  The  vision  of  two  angelic  young 
creatures,  now  still  in  death,  whose  love  had  ilhmiined  his  soul  and  lent 
a  charm  to  existence,  arising  before  him,  with  the  shades  of  his  revered 
father  and  foster  parents  beyond — all  now  gone  forever — almost  over- 
powered him  with  a  sense  of  heart-rending  despondency.  Philosophy, 
however,  came  to  his  rescue.  It  argued  to  him  that  nothing  could  be 
gained  by  repining  and  brooding  over  ill-fortune.  The  dead  were  beyond 
his  reach,  the  living  had  claims  upon  him,  and  he  was  yet  young  enough 
to  dispel  the  incubus  of  grief,  and  to  benefit  humanity  and  his  country. 
Kallying  all  the  strength  of  his  resolute  mind,  he  determined  to  hide 
his  sorrows  in  the  recesses  of  his  own  thoughts,  and  act  to  the  be'st  of 
his  abilities,  the  part  assigned  him  in  the  world's  affairs. 

To  further  this  resolve,  he  concluded  no  longer  to  mope  in  seclusion ; 
but  to  reenter  society,  and  seek  forgetfulness  in  its  pastimes  and  frivoli- 
ties. This  course,  he  correctly  judged,  would  be  the  most  effective  to 
banish  melancholy.  Social  gaieties  and  amusements  in  IS'ew  Orleans 
were  not,  in  that  era,  restricted  to  certain  seasons.     There  was  then  no 

*  By  the  close  of  the  year  1752,  forty-five  brick  houses  had  been  built  in  Xew 
Orleans.     Gayarre's  History  of  Louisiana. 


248 

liegira  of  the  favored  class  to  northern  watering  places,  or  seaside  re- 
sorts, during  the  heated  term;  but  pleasure  there,  considered — next  to 
obtaining  the  necessities  of  life — the  chief  duty  of  existence,  its  pursuit, 
jU  feasting,  dajicing  and  visiting,  was  always  in  order  from  one  Christ- 
mas to  another. 

The  Captain's  presence  in  town  was  soon  generally  known,  and 
but  little  time  was  left  him  to  feel  lonely.  His  military  rank,  his  youth, 
manly  figure  and  handsome  features,  with  his  gentlemanly  bearing  and 
manners,  made  him  a  desirable  acquaintance;  and  the  knowledge  that 
he  was  an  accredited  government  agent  disbursing  large  sums  of  money 
for  military  supplies,  gave  him  ready  admission  into  the  highest  circles 
of  society,  in  which  he  soon  became  conspicuous.  He  was  lionized  by  the 
wealthy  mercenary  traders,  by  the  educated  and  refined,  and  also  b}^ 
shrewd  mothers  having  marriageable  daughters.  By  accepting  pressing- 
invitations  from  all  quarters,  he  was  quickly  inducted  to  the  whirlpool 
of  social  entertainments,  and  was  in  a  short  time,  one  of  society's  chief 
attractions.  He  was  a  graceful  dancer  and  interesting  talker,  and  ever 
ready  to  take  part  in  current  amusements ;  but  detested  the  coarse  revelry 
and  dissipation  of  the  barracks  and  messroom. 

Among  the  wholesale  dealers  and  importers  whose  stocks  of  goods 
he  inspected  preliminary  to  making  his  purchases,  was  a  merchant 
named  Antoine  Delorme,  one  of  the  wealthiest  citizens  of  the  town,  a 
leader  in  its  business  circles,  and  an  affable,  hospitable  gentleman.  His 
residence  on  Eue  Ponchartrain,  in  what  was  then  known  as  the  aristo- 
cratic quarter,  ,was  exteriorly  plain,  but'  large,  roomy,  and  furnished 
interiorly  with  taste  and  munificence.  Patterned  after  the  gaudy  man- 
sion of  the  former  Governor,  the  Marquis  de  Vaudreuil,  it  had  all  the 
appointments  and  accessories  of  luxurious  comfort  that  wealth  could 
provide,  including  a  retinue  of  negro  slaves  perfectly  trained  for  personal 
and  domestic  service. 

Monsieur  Delorme's  ■  family  comprised  only  his  wife  and  daughter, 
at  home.  Another  daughter,  who  was  married,  resided  in  France,  and  a 
son,  also  married,  was  the  principal  merchant  and  shipowner  in  St. 
Pierre,  on  the  island  of  Martinique.  Madam  Delorme  was,  in  many  re- 
spects, the  antithesis  of  her  husband.  He  had  married  her  when  both 
were  young  and  poor,  from  a  social  stratum  below  that  to  which  his 
parents  belonged.  She  was  a  peasant's  daughter,  coarse,  illiterate,  and 
a  stranger  to  the  usages  of  refined  society  in  which  he  had  been  nurtured. 
But  she  was  a  pretty  girl,  strong,  healthy,  industrious,  and  a  shrewd, 
economical  household  manager.  She  had  proven  an  efficient  coadjutor 
in  the  accumulation  of  his  large  fortune,  a  true  wife  and  exemplary 
mother.  Advancing  age  had  wrought  serious  changes  in  her  girlish 
figure  and  rustic  beauty ;  and.  her  altered  station  in  life  had  developed 
the,  too  common,  arrogance  and  foolish  vanity  of  riches  displayed  by 
vulgar  people  becoming  wealthy.  She  was  corpulent,  florid  and  broad- 
faced,  and  spoke  very  ungrammatically ;  but  dressed  in  fine,  showy  clothes 
made  in  the  height  of  fashion,  that  illy  became  her  rotund  form,  and 
wore  a  profusion  of  flashy,  costly  jewelry.  Coming,  as  she  had,  from  the 
mudsills  of  society,  she  seemed  to  have  forgotten  her  early  hardships  and 
privations,  and  now  looked  down  upon  the  plebeians  with  uncharitable 
contempt. 


249 

Her  daughter,  Maiu'selle  Eosealie,  the  youngest  of  her  children,  was 
reared  in  luxury  and  indolence,  receiving  considerable  polish — if  not 
much  erudition — in  a  French  convent  in  Paris.  Her  face  was  pretty 
but  wanting  in  expression.  With  a  tendency  to  obesity,  she  had  in- 
herited none  of  her  mother's  former  energy  and  force,  but  all  of  her 
mother's  later  weakness  for  fine  raiment  and  sparkling  ornaments.  She 
was  blessed  with  an  easy,  good-natured  disposition  and  pleasant  voice; 
was  a  fair  musician,  a  voluble  talker  and  fine  entertainer.  To  secure 
for  this  girl  a  husband  of  wealth,  or  rank — both  preferably — was  now  the 
object  for  which  Madame  Delorme  lived.  ISTo  means  were  spared  in 
making  her  salons  attractive,  and  eclipsing  all  others  in  the  sumptuous- 
uess  and  brilliancy  of  her  entertainments,  not  excepting  those  of  the 
late  Governor  De  Yaudreuil.  Her  balls  and  dinners  were  grand,  and 
her  musicales  and  garden  dejeuners  superb. 

Captain  Saucier  was  not  wealthy;  but  for  business  reasons,  and 
l)ecause  of  his  official  position  in  the  King's  service,  he  soon  became  a 
frequent  and  welcome  guest  at  the  Delorme  mansion.  He  was  among 
the  first  invited  to  the  Madame's  fetes  and  parties,  and  was  always  graci- 
ously received  when  he  dropped  in,  informally,  to  pass  an  hour  in  pleas- 
ant chat  with  Mile.  Eosealie. 

CHAPTER  XII. 
The  Mysterious  Wo^iax  ix  Black. 

A  month  had  passed  since  the  Captain's  arrival  at  Xew  Orleans,  in 
which  he  had  been  busily  employed  every  business  hour  each  day.  He 
had  made  all  his  purchases,  but  was  still  detained  awaiting  the  expected 
despatches  from  France.  Time  however  did  not  hang  heavily  on  his 
hands.  He  had  formed  many  agreeable  acquaintances  who  extended  to 
him  the  cordial  hospitality  of  their  homes,  and  vied  with  each  other 
in  their  efforts  to  enchance  the  pleasures  of  his  visit.  He  received 
flattering  attentions  in  these  charmed  and  charming  circles,  from  the 
ladies  particularly,  who  allowed  him  but  little  opportunity  for  serious 
retrospective  reflection,  and  impressed  upon  him  the  axiom  that  hfe  is 
for  the  living  and  should  be  enjoyed  while  it  lasts. 

Calling  one  morning  before  the  sun's  rays  became  oppressive,  at 
the  Delorme  mansion,  his  knock  at  the  door  was  answered,  as  usual,  by 
a  colored  servant  who  ushered  him  into  the  small  parlor,  or  drawing 
room,  and  then  went  to  apprise  her  young  mistress  of  his  presence.  As 
he  entered  the  room  he  casually  glanced  through  the  open  folding  doors 
into  the  adjoining  room  and  saw  there  a  woman,  apparently  young, 
sitting  in  a  large  alcove  engaged  in  sewing.  Her  hands,  he  saw,  were 
white;  but  he  did  not  see  her  face.  She  arose  on  his  entrance  into  the 
parlor,  and  gathering  up  her  work  basket  and  the  material  upon  which 
she  was  plying  her  needle,  left  the  apartment  without  so  much  as  glanc- 
ing in  his  direction.  He  saw,  as  she  flitted  out  of  the  room  like  a  shadow, 
that  her  tall,  well-molded  form  was  plainly  but  neatly  dressed  in  black. 
As  Mile.  Eosealie  directly  made  her  appearance,  the  woman  in  black 
passed  out  of  his  mind,  and  the  pampered  daughter  of  fortune  amused 
and  interested  him  for  a  time  with  her  vivacious  conversation  and  music. 

The  climate  at  Xew  Orleans  has  not  materially  changed  since  the 
administration  of  affairs  there  by  the  "Grand  ^larquis"  Yaudreuil,  a 


250 

century  and  a  half  ago.  In  the  late  summer  the  nights  and  morning.s 
are  pleasantly  cool,  with  uncomfortable  heat  during  the  middle  part  of 
the  day.  In  the  olden  days,  however,  the  rush  and  bustle  of  business 
ol'  the  })resent  time  were  imknown  there,  and  through  the  heated  hours 
business  pursuits  and  pleasure-seeking  were  suspended  until  a  fall  of 
temperature  in  the  evening. 

A  few  days  after  the  Captain's  last  morning  call  at  the  Delorme 
abode,  he  was  again  there  one  evening  with  a  gay  party  of  young  gentle- 
men and  ladies,  who  had  met  him  on  the  street,  and  prevailed  upon  him 
to  accompany  them.  tSuch  impromptu  gatherings  of  young  society  people 
were  then  of  almost  daily  occurrence,  and  always  highly  enjoyed  by 
hostess  and  guests  alike.  While  the  Captain  was  recounting  to  a  group 
of  girls  some  of  his  experiences  in  Kaskaskia  and  Cahokia  society  he 
chanced  to  look,  from  the  piazza  where  he  sat,  towards  the  flower  garden, 
and  saw  the  same  figure  in  black  he  had  seen  a  few  mornings  before 
sewing  in  the  alcove,  enter  the  garden  from  the  street,  by  a  side  gate, 
and  passing  through  the  shrubbery  and  flowers,  disappear  beyond  the 
rear  angle  of  the  building.  She  wore,  as  before,  a  plain,  neatly-fitting, 
black  dress  and  her  head  was  covered  by  a  sunbonnet  that  concealed  her 
face.  He  looked  at  the  retreating  woman  as  long  as  she  was  in  view, 
though  she  seemed,  from  her  garb,  to  occupy  no  higher  station  than 
that  of  an  upper  menial — a  hired  seamstress  perhaps — and  of  no  conse- 
quence. It  may  have  been  the  striking  contrast  she  jiresented  to  Mile. 
Eosealie,  in  the  perfect  symmetry  of  her  form  and  her  graceful  move- 
ments, that  attracted  his  attention  and  curiously  interested  him.  On 
two  or  three  other  occasions  when  at  the  Delorme  mansion  he  again 
caught  glimpses  of  that  mysterious  retiring  young  woman  in  the  dist- 
ance ;  and  though  he  strove  to  dismiss  her  from  his  mind,  as  one  in  whom 
he  was  in  no  manner  concerned,  she  strangely  impressed  him,  and  he 
found  it  difficult  to  suppress  the  desire  to  learn  who  she  was. 

The  long  looked  for  ship  from  France  at  length  arrived,  bringing 
the  expected  despatches  and  mails.  The  Captain,  much  relieved,  now 
began  earnestly  to  complete  his  final  preparations  for  his  long  and 
trying  return  voyage.  Early  and  late  he  was  in  the  large  Delorme  ware- 
Jiouse,  where  his  goods  were  stored,  superintending  and  directing  the 
assorting  and  transferring  of  bales,  boxes,  and  casks  to  the  boats,  and 
seeing  to  arranging  them  there  securely  and  compactly. 

Coming  into  the  spacious  building  on  the  first  morning,  to  hurry 
forward  this  work,  he  was  hailed  by  old  Michael  Mallait,  the  clerk  and 
guardian  genius  of  this  department  of  the  Delorme  establishment  who 
had  been  in  the  Delorme  ser^dce  since  its  commencement,  with  this 
cheery  greeting : 

"Ah!  bon  jour;  bon  jour;  Monsieur  le  Capitaine.  You  are  quite 
well,  I  am  happy  to  see.    And,  so,  you  are  going  to  leave  us,  eh  ?'' 

"Yes,  Uncle  Michael ;  I  expect  to  bid  New  Orleans  a  long,  and 
perhaps  last,  farewell,  on  next  Monday  morning,  Dieu  volante,"  said  the 
Captain. 

'^Ah  !  mon  eher  fils",  continued  the  old  man,  "we  will  all  miss 
you  very  much  when  you  are  gone ;  and  you  don't  know  the  devastation 
your  departure  will  cause  here." 


251 

"You  are  surely  jesting,  my  friend;  for  M'hat  cnlaniih'  can  my  leav- 
ing occasion?" 

"Broken  hearts  among  the  demoiselles,  of  course/'  answered  the  old 
man,  with  a  knowing  smile;  and  then  added;  "I  don't  know  how  they 
will  manage  to  get  along  without  you  in  their  fine  balls  and  parties.  And 
]\[am"selle  liosealie,  poor  thing!  will  be  inconsolable  in  your  absence". 

"Bah !"  retorted  the  Captain,  with  some  impatience,  "she  will  very 
soon  forget  that  I  was  ever  here."  This  allusion  to  Rosealie  reminded 
him  of  the  plainly-attired  young  woman  he  had  now  and  then  seen  about 
the  Delorme  premises,  and  seeing  no  impropriety  in  interrogating  him 
about  her,  he  asked,  "ISTow  that  I  think  of  it,  mon  oncle ;  can  you  tell  me 
who  that  strange  young  woman  is,  of  whom  I  have  sometimes  caught 
sight,  up  at  the  mansion?" 

"No,  I  cannot;  only  this  of  her  have  I  learned,  that  she  has  but 
recently  arrived  here — since  you  came — ,  from  France,  I  think,  and  that 
she  is  a  distant  relative  of  Delorme's,  an  orphan,  destitute,  and  trying  to 
support  herself  with  her  needle.  I  have  heard  her  name,  but  cannot 
now  recall  it.  Of  course  she  is  not  admitted  into  Mam'selle  Eosealie's 
set." 

Their  conversation  then  turned  on  business  affairs  and  each  was 
soon  engrossed  in  matters  that  concerned  him  most,  and  which  gave  them 
ample  occupation  for  the  balance  of  the  da5^  This  routine  work  con- 
tinued until  Saturday  evening,  when  the  Captain  had  everything  in 
readiness  to  start  away  the  next  evening,  or  on  Monday  morning.  His 
boats  were  all  in  first  class  condition,  each  with  its  cargo  in  place ;  his 
arms  and  ammunition  carefully  inspected ;  his  bills  all  settled,  and  his 
men  at  their  respective  posts  ready  for  duty.  He  would  have  given  the 
order  to  shov«  off  that  evening,  but  for  the  conscientious  scruples  of  the 
men,  who  could  not  agi'ee  to  embark  on  such  a  perilous  journey  without 
first  attending  mass,  and  receiving  absolution  from  the  priest,  on  the 
Sabbath. 

The  Captain  had  a  snug  little  cabin  fitted  up  in  his  boat,  walled 
around  with  bales  and  boxes,  and  covered  with  tarpaulin.  At  either  end 
Avas  a  small  window  looking  fore  and  nft,  a  carpet  covered  the  floor,  and 
a  cosey  bunk  and  a  couple  of  chairs  imparted  to  it  an  air  of  home-likel 
comfort.  The  termination  of  his  stay  in  Xew  Orleans  had  arrived.  He 
had  paid  all  of  his  farewell  visits,  and  bid  adieu  to  all  his  social  and 
business  acquaintances  including  the  Governor  and  military  officers, 
then  gladly  left  his  quarters  in  the  town,  and  took  possession  of  his  cabin 
and  boat,  prepared  for  the  arduous  task  before  him. 

After  retiring  for^the  night  he  reviewed  the  time  he  had  just  passed 
in  Xew  Orleans ;  the  mission  he  had  successfully  accomplished,  inter- 
spersed and  varied,  as  it  had  been,  with  many  pleasant  episodes,  with 
courtesies,  and  the  respect  and  kindness  accorded  him  by  his  many  new 
acquaintances,  and  many  charming  ladies.  All  this  was  gratifying  to 
his  self-esteem.  He  found  that  he  had  gained  much  of  his  former  cheer- 
fulness and  interest  in  life,  and  ambition  for  an  honorable  career.  He 
fell  asleep  congratulating  himself  that  he  had  overcome  the  poignancy 
of  grief  without  impainnent  of  his  loyalty  to  the  memory  of  the  dead, 
successfully  resisting  the  arts  and  blandishments  of  the  city  beauties. 


253 

CHAPTER  XIII. 
A  Miraculous  Escape  From  Death. 

The  golden  light  of  the  Sabbath  dawn  shone  resplendent  in  the  east 
beyond  Lake  Borgne,  and  as  the  sun  arose  above  the  horizon,  the  cur- 
tain of  fog,  settled  on  the  bosom  of  the  great  river  during  the  night,  was 
pJowly  furled  and  floated  away. 

From  force  of  habit,  observed  in  camp,  at  the  Fort,  and  on  the 
march,  the  Captain  arose  at  the  reveille  hour.  His  daily  practice  while 
sojourning  in  the  town  was  to  be  up  before  the  rising  of  the  sun,  and 
take  long  walks  before  breakfast,  for  exercise.  Sometimes  he  strolled 
along  the  levee  above  the  river  bank ;  or  out  to  the  lakes ;  then  again,  he 
walked  through  the  noisy  and  odorous  markets;  or  by  the  slumbering 
residences  and  perfume-ladened  flower  gardens  in  the  opulent  quarter; 
or  among  the  lowly  huts  of  the  poor  classes. 

On  this  refreshing  Sunday  morning,  seeing  that  everything  about 
the  boats  was  quiet  and  in  order,  he  took  his  course  to  the  old  Place  d' 
Armes,  and  then  into  the  deserted  streets,  with  no  aim  in  view  but  to 
look  for  the  last  time  on  some  of  the  objects  and  localities  he  had  become 
familiar  with.  His  unrestrained  thoughts  dwelled  upon  the  possibili- 
ties and  probabilities  of  his  voyage;  then  wandered  to  the  more  serious 
problem  of  impending  war  with  the  English;  mentally  discussing  its 
consequences  in  the  Illinois,  and  its  ultimate  results,  and  how  it  would 
aft'ect  his  individual  plans  and  aspirations,  and  in  what  way  he  might 
best  serve  his  King  and  country,  and  at  the  same  time  j^romote  his  own 
interests. 

He  walked  on  slowly,  in  deep  reverie,  heedless  of  his  course;  past 
the  silent  rows  of  closed  shops  and  stores,  and  on  through  the  little  park, 
or  commons,  then  towards  the  Ursuline  Convent  and  Chapel,  seeing  no 
one  astir  but  the  devout  few  on  their  way  to  the  Chapel  to  attend  la  has 
messe,  or  matin  services.  Arousing  himself  from  his  meditations  to  take 
his  bearings  and  see  where  he  had  wandered  to,  he  noted  that  he  was 
tlien  passing  the  Chapel  into  which  a  few  shuffling  old  people  and  young 
girls  were  noiselessly  creeping,  like  straggling  bees  into  a  hive.  He 
stopped,  and  concluded  to  retrace  his  steps,  and  regain  the  river  and  his 
boats  by  the  most  direct  route.  He  walked  back  a  short  distance,  but 
a  sudden  impulse  caused  him  to  again  turn  and  continue  in  the  direc- 
tion he  had  been  walking,  as  by  that  course  he  could,  with  a  few  detours, 
reach  the  boat  landing  without  much  loss  of  time  or  distance.  Going  on 
he  passed  by  some  of  the  better  class  residences  where  he  had  been,  in 
tiie  last  few  weeks,  royally  entertained;  and,  for  a  moment  felt  a  pang 
of  regret  in  exchanging  those  generous  luxuries  for  the  rough  fare  of 
the  river  and  camp. 

A  little  farther  on  he  came  in  sight  of  the  well-known  gables  and 
]jiazzas,  and  spacious  grounds,  of  the  Delorme  mansion  now  wrapped 
in  the  stillness  of  profound  repose.  As  he  proceeded  toward  the  house, 
along  the  apology  for  a  sidcAvalk,  the  side  gate  of  the  flower  garden  next 
to  the  street  suddenly  opened,  and  the  black-garbed  figure  of  the  young 
woman  he  had  occasionally  seen  about  the  mansion,  emerged,  with  rosary 
and  prayer  book  in  hand,  and  head  bowed  in  devotional  attitude,  evi- 


253 

dently  ou  her  way  to  matiii  worship  at  the  Chapel.  She  came  on  toward 
him  with  downcast  eyes,  walking  slowly,  as  though  in  deep  thought,  or 
burdened  with  some  secret  sorrow.  Though  penniless  and  alone  in  the 
Avorld,  and  consigned  by  fate  to  a  life  of  toil  and  obscurity,  as  old  Michael 
]\Iallait  represented  her,  she  moved  with  grace  and  dignity  strangely  at 
variance  with  her  lowly  station. 

As  they  approached  each  other  on  the  narrow  walk,  she  raised  her 
eyes  slightly  as  he  was  about  to  step  aside  to  let  her  pass  by.  His  gaze 
was  fixed  upon  her,  and  as  she  momentarily  looked  up  he  saw  her  face 
for  the  first  time.  Starting  back  in  bewildered  amazement,  he  exclaimed 
"Merciful  God!  Can  this  be  but  a  mocking  dream!  Pardon  me, 
Madame,  will  you  please  tell  me  who  you  are?  "  She  did  not  faint 
or  scream ;  but  stood — like  a  statue — transfixed  Avith  surprise.  The  color 
left  her  cheeks  for  a  moment,  but  regaining  her  presence  of  mind  she 
answered  firmly,  "My  name  is  Adel  Lepage." 

''Adel  Lepage !'',  he  repeated,  with  agitation ;  "But  Monsieur 
Brusier  told  me  that  my — that  is — I  mean — the  Adel  Lepage  Avhom  I 
knew  in  France,  died  of  the  plague  aboard  the  ship,  L'Etoile  du  Nord, 
at  sea." 

"I  escaped  death  almost  by  a  miracle"',  said  she;  but,  pray  sir,  who 
are  you?" 

"I  am  Jean  Baptiste  Saucier",  answered  the  Captain,  as  he  clasped 
the  astonished  girl  in  his  arms. 

"Oh !  Jean  Baptiste",  she  cried  half  incredulously,  "can  it  be  pos- 
sible that  it  is  really  you  ?  They  told  us  you  were  killed  by  the  savages, 
and  my  poor  parents  and  myself  mourned  for  you  Avith  ))leeding  hearts." 

He  turned  and  walked  Avith  her  in  the  direction  of  the  Chapel ;  but 
so  intent  were  they  with  mutual  explanations  of  causes  Avhy  they  Avere 
not  dead,  and  accounts  of  events  transpiring  in  their  lives  since  they 
had  seen  each  other  last,  they  passed  the  Chapel  Avithout  seeing  it,  and 
proceeding  to  the  Convent  lawn  sat  down  on  one  of  the  rustic  seats  there, 
and  continued  their  animated  conversation  perfectly  oblivious  to  all 
surroundings. 

"Did  you",  she  asked,  "receive  my  letter  giving  you  an  account  of 
your  father's  death,  and  of  my  father's  conclusion  to  emigrate  to  Ncav 
France  ?" 

"Yes",  he  answered  sadly,  "and  that  Avas  the  last  letter  I  received 
from  you.     You  perhaps  forgot  to  write  to  me  again." 

"Oh !  Jean  Baptiste,  how  can  you  say  that  ?",  she  said  reproachfully, 
and  her  eyes  became  suffused  with  tears.  "I  will  tell  you  why  I  did  not 
write  to  you  again"  she  continued :  "You  no  doubt  remember  Jo. 
Michot?" 

"I  do,  indeed",  said  the  Captain;  "and  I  Avill  hardly  ever  forget — 
nor  do  I  think  he  Avill — the  thrashing  I  gave  him,  when  Ave  were  at 
school  at  Lachappelle,  one  recess,  for  meanlv  kicking  over  our  dinner 
basket." 

"Well",  continued  Adel,  "he  annoyed  me  very  much  by  his  persist- 
ent attentions,  after  you  left  home,  and  asked  me  to  marry  him.  I,  of 
course,  refused;  for  I  always  cordially  detested  him.     It  Avas  just  after 


254 

your  father's  death — a  lew  clavs  alter  1  had  written  to  you  of  it — and.  we 
were  preparing  to  start  to  America,  that  he  brought  the  intelligence 
from  Orleans  that  you  had  Ijeen  slain  in  battle  with  the  Indians.  From 
the  accounts  you  had  written  us  of  those  terrible  savages,  I  believed  the 
sad  news  he  brouglit  was  true.  He  then  told  me  I  need  not  go  to 
America  to  look  for  you,  as  you  were  dead ;  and  I  might  as  well  marry 
him  and  remain  in  France.  This  not  only  pained,  but  infuriated  me, 
and  I  replied  that  I  was  anxious  to  go  to  New  France,  and  w^ould  go 
there,  or  anywhere  else,  if  for  no  other  reason  than  that  I  might  l)e  where 
1  would  never  see,  or  hear  of  him  again.^' 

''Mille  Tonnerre !",  interrupted  the  Captain  vehemently.  "I  wish 
the  lying  poltroon  was  here  now,  so  that  I  could  show  him  whether  I 
am  dead,  or  not." 

"So  then",  continued  Adel,  "Monsieur  Isidore  Brusier  told  you  all 
about  the  awful  misfortunes  that  befel  us  on  the  ocean.  Oh  I  it  w^as 
dreadful  beyond  any  human  power  of  description.  In  an  hour  or  two 
after  I  was  attacked  by  the  plague  I  lost  all  consciousness,  and  only 
know  what  followed  by  having  been  told  of  it  by  others.  All  were  satis- 
fied I  ^^'as  dying  when  Monsieur  Brusier  w^as  stricken  down,  and  they 
made  preparations  to  throw^  me  into  the  sea  to  follow  my  poor  father 
and  mother  and  the  others  who  had  died.  And  two  or  three  times  again 
it  was  thought  I  had  breathed  my  last;  but  when  the  unfortunate  ship 
next  morning,  cast  its  anchor  in  the  Bay  of  St.  Pierre,  in  the  island  of 
Martinique,  I  was  still  alive.  All  on  board,  sick  and  well,  were  imme- 
diately sent  ashore. 

"Monsieur  Brusier's  brother,  who  escaped  the  scourge,  and  who  had 
cared  for  him  every  moment  of  his  sickness,  emploj^ed  natives  at  once  to 
carry  the  sick  man  to  the  northern  part  of  the  island,  so  as  to  be  near 
relatives  of  theirs  at  Fort  Eoyale.  The  other  sick  persons,  who  had 
friends  or  relatives  Math  them,  were  also  carried  away  to  the  hills  as  soon 
as  possible;  but  I,  having  no  one  left  to  care  for  me,  was  taken  on  shore 
and  placed  in  a  vacant  native  hut  under  the  palms,  with  no  thought 
that  I  could  survive  many  hours — or  minutes,  perhaps.  The  arrival  of 
our  vessel,  and  its  disastrous  voyage,  were  soon  known  in  St.  Pierre, 
and  the  citizen  there  lost  no  time  in  offering  such  relief  as  was  in  their 
power. 

"Augustine  Delorme,  son  of  M.  Antoine  Delorme  of  this  place,  the 
wealthiest  merchant  in  St.  Pierre,  and  himself  a  shipowner,  and  whose 
grandmother  was  a  Lepage,  on  learning  from  our  ship's  register  my 
name,  and  my  parent's  names,  as  passengers,  from  near  Orleans,  thought 
we  might  be  relatives  of  his,  and  sent  an  agent  to  the  ship  right  away  to 
enquire  about  us.  On  learning  the  facts  he  came  himself  immediately 
with  a  lot  of  servants,  and  caused  me  to  be  placed  in  a  covered  litter, 
(^r  palanquin,  and  conveyed,  by  relays  of  carriers,  to  his  summer  house 
upon  the  mountain  side.  There  a  corps  of  physicians  and  nurses,  super- 
intended by  Monsieur  Augustine's  good  wife,  bravely  contended  with 
the  horrid  disease  that  was  consuming  me,  for  many  days,  and  finally 
tJ-iumphed." 


255 

CHAPTER  XIV. 
Marriage  of  Captain  Saucier. 

"I  told  them  my  story"',  continued  Adel,  "when  sutliciently  recovered 
to  be  able  to  talk,  and  when  able  to  sit  up  my  newly  found  relatives 
removed  me  to  their  home  in  St.  Pierre,  and  installed  me  there  as  one  of 
their  family.  I  there  did  all  I  could  for  them  to  repay  their  great 
benevolence,  by  such  services  as  I  could  render;  and, -while  there,  learned 
to  be  quite  an  expert  dressmaker.  Though  every  comfort  was  at  my  com- 
mand, and  every  want  gratified,  I  could  not  avoid  the  feeling  that  I 
was  ix  dependent  and  object  of  charity.  I  begged  M.  Augustine  to  per- 
mit me  to  come  to  this  town  on  one  of  his  ships,  where  I  might  find  better 
opportunities  to  earn  my  support.  They  all  tried  to  dissuade  me  from 
the  view  I  had  taken  and  the  purpose  I  had  formed,  and  implored  me  to 
remain  with  them.  It  must  have  been  some  destiny  impelling  me,  for 
I  could  not  resist  the  constant  impulse  to  come  here. 

"With  reluctance  and  regrets,  they  at  length  consented;  but  only 
on  my  promise  to  go  directly  to  M.  Antoine  Delorme's  house,  and  make 
it  my  future  home,  and  if  I  was  disappointed  in  my  expectations  here 
to  return  immediately  to  them. 

''I  arrived  here  four  weeks  ago,  and  found  the  Delorme  mansion  a 
very  pleasant  home,  and  have  been  treated  very  kindly.  I  soon  dis- 
covered, however,  that  my  place  there  was  that  of  a  poor,  dependent  re- 
lation, an(f  that  I  Avas  expected  not  to  transgress  its  bounds  by  intruding 
myself  into  Mam'selle  Eosealie's  circle. 

■'This  situation  has  its  twinge  of  humiliation;  but  not  of  hardship; 
for  society  has  no  allurements  for  me,  and  I  long  only  for  the  quietude  of 
obscure  retirement — that  Madame  Delorme  and  Mam'selle  Eosealie  seem 
quite  willing  for  me  to  enjoy.  I  have  though,  without  consulting  them, 
made  arrangements  to  leave  the  mansion  tomorrow  morning,  and  com- 
mence work  in  j\Iadame  Durand's  dressmaking  and  millinery  establish- 
ment, on  Eue  St.  Charles,  where  I  can  earn  good  wages  and  be  measur- 
ably independent." 

The  Captain  listened  to  this  recital  with  deep  interest,  and  to  some 
of  its  passages,  with  illy-suppressed  emotions.  He  then  told  her  of  Fort 
de  Chartres  and  the  country  in  which  it  was  located;  of  Kaskaskia, 
Cahokia,  and  of  the  people  who  lived  there.  He  told  her  of  his  life  at 
the  Fort,  and  of  his  former  voyage  down  the  river,  and  the  great  joy  he 
anticipated  in  meeting  her  and  her  parents  in  Xew  Orleans,  and  of  his 
plans  for  their  future  settlement  in  the  colonies  near  the  Fort.  He  re- 
counted his  eager  watching  for  the  arrival  of  their  ship,  and  of  his  heart- 
rending disappointment  and  grief  when  he  met  Monsieur  Brusier,  and 
heard  from  him  the  terrible  reality,  with  assurance  of  her  death  also. 
He  then  informed  her  of  his  present  mission  to  New  Orleans,  its  objects 
accomplished,  and  his  arrangements  all  perfected  for  starting  that  even- 
ing, or  early  the  next  morning,  on  his  return,  not  omitting  a  description 
of  the  perils  and  hardships  of  the  voyage.  Then  taking  her  hand  in 
both  of  his,  he  said,  "Adel,  will  you  be  my  wife,  and  go  with  me  ?'' 


2oG 

She  raised  her  eves  to  his,  l)eaming  with  juvdiis  eonfulence,  as  slie 
answered  unhesitatingly;  "Yes,  Jean  Baptiste,  I  will;  and  will  go  with 
you  anywhere." 

They  again  met  early  next  morning  at  the  XJrsuline  Chapel,  and 
knelt  together  at  the  altar.  The  officiating  priest,  informed  of  the 
Captain's  situation,  dispensed  with  the  Church's  rule  in  ordinary  mar- 
riages, of  publishing  the  bans  from  the  altar  for  three  consecutive  Sun- 
days, and  proceeded  to  solemnly  pronounce  the  ceremony  that  made 
them  man  and  wife. 

The  only  witnesses  present  were  old  Michael  Mallait  and  Monsieur 
Delorme;  Madame  Delorme  and  Manfselle  Rosealie,  if  invited,  did  not 
deign  to  even  send  their  regrets,  much  less  to  offer  either  reception  or 
wedding  feast  for  the  young  coujjle.  An  hour  later  the  boats  were  mov- 
ing up  stream,  Mdth  Adel  as  mistress  of  the  Captain's  cabin,  enroute  to 
a  new,  strange  world  to  found  a  new  home  under  novel  auspices. 

'Their  progress  up  the  tortuous  river  was  laborious,  and  not  alto- 
gether free  from  exciting  adventures  and  narrowly  averted  dangers; 
but  in  due  time;  all  arrived  safely  at  the  Fort. 

'New  Chartres,  the  town  near  the  entrance  to  the  Fort,  so  named 
in  contradistinction  to  Old  Chartres,  near  the  gate  of  the  old  fort 
below,  had  grown  to  respectable  dimensions.  Commencing  with  tempo- 
rary habitations  of  artisans  and  laborers,  it  had  absorbed  the  population 
of  the  old  town,  and  the  greater  part  of  that  of  St.  Philip.*  Several 
traders  settled  in  it  and  some  of  the  officers  and  soldiers  of  tiie  garrison 
having  families  resided  in  the  village  in  preference  to  the  restricted 
limits  within  the  walls.  A  beautiful  lawnlike  esplanade,  or  drill  ground, 
of  twenty  acres,  laid  between  the  great  gate  and  the  town.  We  can  well 
imagine  the  maneuvers  here  of  gi'enadiers,  in  pleasant  weather,  viewed 
with  patriotic  pride,  by  the  officers  and  their  friends,  from  the  large 
stone  platform  surmounting  the  carved  arch  of  the  principal  gate.  Cap- 
tain Saucier's  cottage  was  the  newest  and  neatest  in  the  village  "officers 
row,'^  its  attractiveness  and  embellishments  due  to  the  taste  and  industry 
of  his  handsome  wife.  As  a  token  of  his  special  regard  for  the  Captain, 
Chevalier  Makarty  transferred  Lisette  to  Adel,  for  whom  she  formed  an 
attachment  at  their  first  meeting ;  and  the  true,  worthy  ser\' ant  remained 
in  the  Captain's  household,  through  its  fortunes,  the  rest  of  her  days. 

For  several  years  after  his  marriage  Capt.  Saucier  remained  steadily 
on  duty  at  the  Fort  superintending  the  work  of  the  builders,  until,  at 
last,  in  1763,  the  great  structure  was  almost  completed.  The  broad 
stone  platform  over  the  fine  arch  of  the  main  gate  was  placed  in  posi- 
tion ;  and  also  the  stone  stair  case  and  balustrade  leading  up  to  it.    The 

*  "On  the  first-named  grant,  Renault  established  a  little  village,  and  a?  is  the 
fashion  in  more  modern  times,  lionored  it  by  his  own  baptismal  name — St.  Philip. 
It  was  on  the  rich  alluvion  and  had  its  common  field  there,  the  allotments  made 
by  himself  and  within  five  miles  of  Fort  Chartres,  then  just  erected  on  a  small 
scale,  and  with  no  view  of  durability  or  strength :  within  its  shade  grew  up 
'Chartres  Village'  as  it  was  called,  with  its  'common  field'  also,  and  'commons' 
embracing  a  large  scope  of  the  unappropriated  domain,  and  with  a  chapel  served 
by  a  Franciscan  friar  and  dedicated  to  St.  Anne.  Not  a  vestage  of  these  two  vill- 
ages now  remain,  save  some  asparagus  yearly  putting  forth  its  slender  stems 
upon  the  open  prairie." — The  Early  History  of  Illinois.  By  Sidney  Breese,  Chicago, 
1884,  pp.   177-178. 


257 

cannon,*  bearing  on  their  surface,  the  monogram  and  arm?  of  Louis 
XIV,  were  mounted  in  the  bastions,  and  the  buildings  and  arched  maga- 
zine within  the  huge  walls  were  all  nearly  finished.  On  the  low  swampy- 
bank  of  the  Mississippi  river,  in  the  far  western  wilderness,  it  stood, 
a  marvel  of  engineering  skill  and  labor,  the  grandest  and  strongest 
fortress  in  America. 

CHAPTER  XV. 

Surrender  of  Fort  Chartres  to  the  English. 

Fort  Chartres  was  the  depot  of  arms  and  munitions,  and  the  seat 
of  military  power  for  all  the  vast  region  from  Xew  Orleans  to  Montreal 
west  of  the  Alleghanies,  as  France  then,  claimed  the  entire  Mississippi 
valley.  England's  rapidly  increasing  colonies  on  the  Atlantic  seaboard 
however  passed  the  mountain  barrier,  and  were  overrunning  the  ten'itory 
claimed  by  France  north  of  the  Ohio  river.  Their  aggressions  brought 
on  local  conflicts  which,  in  1755,  resulted  in  war  between  the  two  nations. 
Braddock  that  year  marched  on  Fort  Du  Quesne  and  was  defeated.  In 
3  756,  the  English  General,  Forbes,  with  7,000  men,  retrieved  Braddock's 
disaster  and  compelled  the  French  to  evacuate  Fort  Du  Quesne,  where 
all  the  garrison  of  Fort  Chartres,  but  one  company,  had  been  drawn. 
It  was  now  plain  that  the  empire  of  France  in  America  was  tottering 
to  its  fall.  It  was  too  extensive  to  be  successfully  defended  at  all  pqints 
from  onslaughts  of  such  a  foe.  For  three  years  more  the  unequal  contest 
continued,  when  it  was  practically  terminated  by  the  English  victory  on 
the  Plains  of  Abraham,  and  fall  of  Quebec,  on  the  13th  of  September, 
1759.  The  boldness  and  sagacity  of  Pontiac,  the  friend  and  ally  of  the 
French,  however,  prevented  the  victorious  English  from  taking  possession 
of  the  Illinois  until  six  years  later. 

The  reverses  of  the  French  arms  were  severely  felt  at  Fort  Char- 
tres, and  throughout  the  settlements  on  the  Mississippi,  though  they 
were  not  in  the  theatre  of  the  war.  The  Fort  had  been  rebuilt  at  im- 
mense expense  of  treasure  and  labor,  designed  to  be  a  permanent  bulwark 
for  the  French  possessions  in  the  Mississippi  Valley.  Yet,  it  was  not 
completely  finished  when  the  fall  of  Canada  clearly  presaged  its  doom. 

In  1761,  Col.  Makarty  was,  by  his  own  request,  ordered  back  to 
France,  and  Capt.  Xeyon  de  Villiers,  who,  of  seven  brothers  in  the  mili- 
tary service  of  the  King  in  America,  was  the  only  survivor,  the  other 
six  having  been  killed  in  defense  of  Canada,  succeeded  him  in  command 
at  the  Fort.  The  retiring  veteran,  upon  taking  his  departure,  bid  fare- 
well, with  touching  sadness,  to  the  officers  and  men,  to  the  colonists  who 

*  The  cannon,  five  in  number,  were  taken  from  the  ruins  of  Fort  Chartres.  in 
1812,  by  Gov.  Ninian  Edwards  and  mounted  on  his  Fort  Russell,  n  mile  and  a 
half  from  the  present  city  of  Edwardsville.  One  of  them  was  bursted  when  firing 
in  celebration  of  Gen'l.  Jackson's  victory  at  New  Orleans,  in  January,  1815.  Of 
the  other  four  no  trace  can  be  found.  Of  the  aspect  of  Fort  Chartres,  when  he 
visited  it  in  1802,  Gov.  Reynolds  says  ;  "It  was  an  object  of  anti-ciuarian  curiosity. 
The  trees,  undergrowth,  and  brush  are  mixed  and  interwoven  with  the  old  walls. 
It  presented  the  most  striking  contrast  between  a  savage  wilderness ;  filled  with 
wild  beasts  and  reptiles,  and  the  remains  of  one  of  the  largest  and  strongest  fortifi- 
cations on  the  continent."  He  visited  it  again  in  1854,  and  found  "Fort  Chartres 
a  pile  of  mouldering  ruins,  and  the  walls  torn  away  almost  even  with  the  surface." 
At  present  nothing  of  the  great  structure  remains  but  one  angle  of  the  wall  a  few 
feet  in  height,  and  the  magazine." 
—17  H  S 


258 

revered  him,  to  the  splendid  citadel  he  erected,  and  to  the  grave  of  his 
idolized  daughter.  When  he  parted  with  Capt.  Saucier,  who  accom- 
panied him  from  France,  and  had  for  a  decade  been  intimately  associ- 
ated with  him  in  all  the  affairs  of  the  Fort,  and  had  shown  his  daughter 
such  tender  attentions,  his  iron  firmness  failed,  and  tears  coursed  down 
his  bronzed  cheeks  as  he  flung  himself  into  his  boat  and  left  the  Illinois 
for  ever. 

When  the  weak  and  corrupt  King  of  France,  having  secretly  trans- 
ferred Florida,  New  Orleans  and  all  the  territory  west  of  the  Mississippi, 
to  Spain,  purchased  peace  with  England  by  ceding  to  her  all  the  balance 
of  his  possessions  in  America,  in  17G3,  the  settlers  in  the  Illinois  district 
were  overwhelmed  with  surprise  and  mortification.  Disgusted  and  heart- 
broken. Captain  de  Yilliers  abandoned  Fort  Chartres  and  went  to  Xew 
Orleans.  Captain  Saucier,  not  wishing  to  return  to  France,  and  seeing 
his  military  career  in  America  terminated,  handed  de  Villiers  his  resig- 
nation from  the  army  and  took  up  his  abode  in  Cahokia.  The  veteran 
Commandant,  Louis  St.  Ange  de  Bellerive,  who  many  years  before  com- 
manded the  old  stockade  Fort  Chartres,  now  came  from  Vincennes,  with 
forty  men,  and  assumed  command  of  the  grand  new  Fort,  only  to  for- 
mally surrender  it,  on  the  10th  of  October,  1765,  to  Captain  Sterling, 
of  the  42d  Highlanders,  much  to  the  chagrin  and  deep  disgust  of  Pontiac 
and  his  braves,  and  to  all  the  French  colonists.  To  the  lasting  disgrace 
and  humiliation  of  France  her  lillies  were  hauled  down  from  the  bastion 
statt  and  replaced  by  the  detested  flag  of  Great  Britain.  Fort  Chartres 
was  the  last  place  on  the  continent  of  North  America  to  float  the  French 
flag.  St.  Ange  de  Bellerive,  unwilling  to  live  under  English  rule,  after 
the  surrender  embarked  with  his  handful  of  men,  at  the  Fort  landing  and 
proceeded  up  the  river  to  St.  Louis,  which  he  thought  was  yet  in  French 
territory,  and  assumed  command  of  that  post.  New  Chartres  was 
speedily  deserted;  several  of  its  inhabitants  following  St.  Ange  to  St. 
Louis,  and  the  balance  scattering  out  in  the  neighboring  settlements. 

Captain  Saucier  and  wife,  enamored  with  the  country  and  people, 
upon  his  resignation  left  New  Chartres  and  purchased  an  elegant  home 
in  Cahokia,  where  they  were  accorded  the  highest  respect  and  consider- 
ation by  the  entire  community.  The  feeble  exhibition  of  authority  by 
tbp  new  rulers  of  the  Illinois  effected  no  perceptible  change  in  the  old 
regime,  and  the  peaceful  habitants  were  soon  reconciled  to  the  new 
dynasty.  Cahokia  continued  to  flourish  and  grow  in  importance.  Cap- 
tain Saucier  engaged  actively  in  business  pursuits  and  prospered;  and 
was  a  patriotic  citizen  of  the  United  States  for  many  years  after  George 
Eogers  Clark,  on  the  night  of  the  4th  of  July,  1778,  tore  down  the  odious 
banner  of  St.  George  at  Kaskaskia,  and  planted  in  its  stead — for  all 
future  time — the  ensign  of  political  freedom. 

Owing  to  the  loss  of  the  Cahokia  parish  records — in  the  confusion 
of  removing  the  Church  property  to  a  place  of  safety  during  the  dis- 
astrous overflow  of  the  Mississippi,  in  1844 — it  is  now  not  known  when 
Capt.  Saucier  and  his  wife  died.  But  it  is  known  that  they  were  buried, 
side  by  side,  in  the  little  gi-aveyard  adjoining  the  old  Cahokia  Church, 
and  that  their  dust  still  reposes  there  with  that  of  several  generations 
of  the  early  French  pioneers  of  the  Illinois. 


259 

GENEALOGICAL. 

The  marriage  of  Capt.  John  B.  Saucier  and  Adelaide  Lepage  was 
blessed  by  the  advent  of  three  children,  in  the  following  order:*  Baptiste 
Saucier,  Matthien  Saucier,  Francois  Saucier. 

Baptiste  Saucier  and  Marie  Josephine  Belcour  were  married,  in 
Cahokia,  in  the  year  1778-.  Of  the  three  children  born  to  them,  Adelaide 
Saucier  and  Matthieu  Saucier  survived;  a  younger  son,  John  Baptiste 
Saucier,  died  when  a  grown  young  man. 

The  daughter,  Adelaide,  married,  in  1799,  a  young  Frenchman 
named  Jean  Francois  Perry,  from  the  vicinity  of  Lyons,  in  France;  and 
of  their  four  daughters,  three  survived,  named  Louise  Perry,  Adelaide 
Perry,  Harriet  Perry. 

Adelaide  Perry,  married  on  tlie  18th  of  October,  1820,  at  Cahokia, 
a  young  man  from  Fayette  County,  Pennsylvania,  named  Adam  Wilson 
Snyder ;  and  of  several  children  born  to  them,  three  sons  survived,  named 
William  Henry  Snyder,  Frederick  Adam  Snyder,  John  Francis  Snyder. 

APPENDIX. 
Note  A. 

During  the  early  agitation  for  revision  of  the  Dreyfus  trial,  in 
1897,  frequent  mention  was  made  in  public  prints  of  "General  Saussier, 
Military  Governor  of  Paris".  In  the  press  despatches  from  Paris  there 
appeared  this  paragraph:  "Paris,  January  16,  1898.  One  hundred 
and  twentyrsix  patriotic  and  military  Societies  held  a  demonstration 
today  in  the  Place  Vendome  in  honor  of  General  Gustave  Saussier, 
Commander-in-Chief  of  the  French  Army,  and  Military  Governor  of 
Paris,  who  now  retires  under  the  age  limit." 

The  announcement  of  his  death,  in  1905,  was  cabled  to  this  country 
as  follows : 

Paeis^  Dec.  20. — General  Felix  Gustave  Saussier,  former  comman- 
der-in-chief of  the  French  army,  died  today.  He  was  one  of  the  best 
known  and  bravest  officers  in  France.  In  the  battles  around  Metz  a 
quarter  of  a  century  ago  he  distinguished  himself  most  signally.  The 
famous  infantry  charge  at  St.  Privat,  which  practically  barred  the  prog- 
ress of  the  Germans  on  that  side,  was  led  by  him.  Saussier  was  one  of 
the  officers  who  signed  the  protest  against  the  surrender  of  Metz.  Gen- 
eral Saussier  also  served  in  Italy,  Mexico  and  the  Crimea.  He  was  a 
deputy  for  some  time  and  in  1873  distinguished  himself  in  the  discus- 
sions on  the  reorganization  of  the  army. 

Note  B. 

In  the  confusion  incident  to  removing  the  church  property  to  a 
place  of  safety  during  the  great  overflow  of  the  Mississippi  in  1844,  the 
parish  records  of  Cahokia  were  lost.     Fortunately,  at  some  time  prior 

•Pioneer  History  of  Illinois.  By  John  Reynolds.  Second  (or  Fergus)  edition, 
Chicago,   1887,  pp.   286  to  291. 

See  also  Adam  W.  Snyder  and  his  Period  in  Illinois  History,  lS17-18.'i3.  By  Dr. 
J.  F.   Snyder,   Virginia,   Illinois,    1906. 


260 

to  1844,  Mr.  Oscar  W.  Collet,  of  St.  Louis,  copied  the  Cahokia  register 
of  marriages,  which  cop}^  was  discovered,  nearly  half  a  century  later,  in 
the  St.  Louis  University.  It  is,  however,  quite  defective,  having  many 
errors  and  omissions.  The  parochial  records  of  Kaskaskia  and  St. 
Anne,  still  preserved,  are  also  very  defective,  with  errors,  omissions, 
and  important  parts  entirely  missing.  Hence  the  difficulty,  or  impossi- 
bility, of  tracing  the  family  history,  or  personal  identity,  of  many  citi- 
zens of  French  descent  who  were  prominent  in  the  first  settling  of  Illi- 
nois. Tho  some  of  them  were  well  educated,  they  left  no  written  records 
of  themselves  or  their  times.  For  these  reasons  there  is  today  much 
uncertainty  regarding  the  earlier  members  of  the  Saucier  family  in 
America,  several  of  whom  were  noted  among  the  pioneers  from  Canada 
to  Louisiana. 

The  following  brief  references — comprising  in  great  part  the  present 
knowledge  of  them — are  copied,  by  permission,  from  the  ''Saucier 
Papers"  of  Judge  Walter  B.  Douglas,  of  St.  Louis : 

Louis  Saucier,  (son  of  Charles  Saucier  and  Charlotte  Clairet,  of 
St.  Eustache,  Paris),  married,  at  Quebec,  Canada,  Margueritte  Gailliard 
dit  Duplessis,  on  the  12th  of  January,  1671.  They  had  two  children, 
Charles  and  Jean. 

Charles,  baptised  Sept.  1st,  1672,  married,  1st,  Marie  Anne  Bisson, 
2d,  Marie  Madeline  St.  Dennis,,  and,  3d,  Marie  Francois  Lebel,  and 
liad  four  children. 

Jean,  baptised  Dec.  4th,  1674, — further  history  not  given.* 

One  Jean  Saucier  was  an  early  inhabitant  of  Louisiana,  as  appears 
in  the  census  of  1706,  towit,  "Jean  Saucier,  a  wife  and  two  children."! 
In  Hamilton's  Colonial  Mobile,  p.  80,  his  name  is  given  as  J.  B.  Saucier, 
his  wife  was  Gabrielle  Savary,  and  his  occupation  a  "Marchand." 

In  the  same  book  "Madame  Socie"  is  mentioned,  p.  151,  as  a  land 
OAvner  in  Mobile  in  1760.  On  page  192  it  is  stated,  "of  other  officials, 
we  know  Fr.  Saucier  as  sub  engineer  in  1751." 

When  New  Orleans  was  settled,  in  1722,  some  of  the  family  removed 
there,  as  in  the  list  of  first  grantees  of  lots  is  the  name  "Sautier"  as  a 
grantee  of  lot  144. 

"Le  24  X  bre  (24th  of  October),  1739,  Mr,  Sauzier,  ingenieur,  est 
party  avec  un  detachment  d'  Arcanzas  et  quelques  Canadiens  a  dessin  de 
charcher  le  chemin  par  on  Mr.  d'Artaguet  avoir  este  aux  Chics." J 

The  place  from  which  he  departed  was  Bienville's  camp  near  the 
present  site  of  Memphis. 

In  the  Kaskaskia  parochial  register,  "Saucier"  signs  as  a  witness 
to  a  marriage,  on  the  20th  August,  1742.  In  same,  under  date  of  July, 
1761,  is  this  entry,  "Marie  Jeanne  Fontaile,  widow  of  Francois  Saucier, 
lieutenant  refonne  (half  pay)  and  inginieur  pour  le  Eoy  at  Fort  Char- 
tres,  married  Alexander  du  Clos.  In  March,  1788,  she  was  married, 
for  the  third  time,  to  Jean  du  Martin,  a  native  of  Ax,  in  Gascony.  She 
is  described  in  the  last  entry  as  "Marie  Jeanne  Saucier,  widow  of  the 
deceased  Alexander  du  Clos." 


•  Tanguay's  Dictionaire  Gbnealogique  des  Famille  Canadienes. 
t  F"'ortier's  History  of  Louisiana,  p.    52. 

i  Journal    de    la   Guerre    du    Mississippi    en    1739    et    fini    en    1740    le    ler   d"nvril. 
Par  un  officier  de  I'Armer  de  M.  de  Nouaille.     N.  Y.   Shea.     1859. 


261 

Jauvier  1,  1761,  Monsieur  Saucier  fils  signs  as  a  marriage  witness 

1759,  Francois  Saucier,  cadet,  is  a  godfather. 

From  the  St.  Anne  parish  register  it  is  learned  that  '"'le  Sieur  Jeaii 
B.  Sausie,  ingenieur,''  was  godfather  at  Fort  Chartres  on  the  19th  of 
February,  1752. 

In  the  same  register,  12  avriel,  1758,  Sausier  was  witness  at  the 
marriage  of  Marie  Anne  Belcour. 

1758,  30  Juliet,  Saucier  again  signs  as  marriage  witness. 

1760,  10  Juin,  Saucier  again  signs  as  marriage  witness,  and  is 
<iesignated  in  the  entry  as  "Monsieur  Saucier." 

1760,  8  Janvier,  a  negro  slave  of  Saucier  was  buried. 
There  was  in  early  days,  Billon  says,  in  St.  Louis,  Marie  Barbe 
Saucier,  wife  of  Julien  Le  Eoy.  They  were  married  at  Mobile  in  1755. 
One  of  their  daughters  married  Jean  Baptiste  Frudeau,  first  school 
master  in  St.  Louis.  Joseph  Francis  Saucier  was  godfather  of  some  of 
the  Le  Roy  children  in  1767. 

Prof.  Clarence  W.  Alvord,  of  the  Illinois  State  University,  found 
in  the  Canadian  Archives,  copied  from  Archives  Coloniales  a  Paris, 
several  legal  documents  emanating  from  "nouns,  Francois  Saucier,  Ar- 
penteur,  Soussigne,  &c;"  and  states.  "Saucier  was  still  Arpenteur  in 
1737,  beginning  in  1707  (Archives  C.  F.  224,  p.  24  and  G.  p.  80),  most 
of  the  documents  of  the  period  in  the  volume  were  written  by  Saucier." 
I  am  also  indebted  to  Prof.  Alvord  for  the  following  records  copied 
from  those  of  Kaskaskia  and  St.  Anne,  (translated)  : 

Feb.  6,  1733.  Village  of  M.  Eenault.  Francois  La  Croix  and  his 
wife  Barbe  Meaumenier,  sold  to  their  son-in-law,  Henry  Saussier,  a 
terre  of  three  arpents  front  extending  from  the  Mississippi  to  the  bluffs, 
lying  between  land  of  M.  Girardot  and  Francois  La  Croix,  for  three 
hrmdred  minots  of  wheat,  payable  in  yearly  instalments  of  10  minots. 
Furthermore,  Saussier  promises  to  maintain  in  repair  the  commune 
"which  crosses  his  land,  and  to  pay  the  seignioral  rights.  Signed  by 
cross  for  La  Croix,  and  cross  for  his  wife.  Eobbilhand  witness.  Jerome, 
Notary. 

Sept.  22,  1737,  Jean  Baptiste  Saucier  acknowledges  to  have  sold 
to  Joseph  Deruisseau  and  company  a  family  of  slaves,  consisting  of  a 
negro,  a  negress,  a  negroit  and  negrillome,  for  2000  livres  payable  in 
■wheat,  &c.  Made  in  the  house  of  J.  Bte.  Bauvais.  Signed  J.  B.  Saucier, 
J.  Deruisseau,  (and  company),  J.  B.  Beaulieu,  Joseph  Leduc,  Barrois. 
Notary. 

Sept.  17,  1758,  at  the  request  of  Henry  Saucier,  and  on  the  order 
of  M.  Buchet,  judge  in  the  jurisdiction,  the  Royal  hussier  (auctioneer), 
Louis  Robinet,  offers  at  auction  before  the  door  of  the  parish  church  of 
St.  Anne,  after  mass,  land  of  two  and  a  half  arpents  front  extending 
from  the  Mississippi  to  the  bluffs,  situated  in  the  commons  of  the  village 
of  St.  Philippe  du  Marais,  belonging  to  the  said  Saucier.  It  is  offered 
three  times,  and  is  finally  sold  for  305  livres  to  J.  Belcour.  Signed 
Robinet,  Huissier.  Belcour  signed  with  a  cross.  Metius,  Duchemin, 
witnesses. 

April  19,  1763.  In  the  house  of  M.  Deselle  at  Prairie  du  Rocher 
an  elaborate  marriage  contract  was  entered  into  by  Sieur  Antoine  Duclos, 


262 

Ecuyer,  ''natif  de  la  paroise  de  St.  Anne  a  la  Nouvelle  Chartres,  aux 
Illinois,  diocese  de  Quebec,  fil  de  Sieur  Alexandre  Duclos,  ancien  officer 
des  trouppes  de  sa  majeste  tres  Christienne,"  on  the  one  part,  and 
"Demoiselle  Marie  Jeanne  Saucier,  fille  d  Sieur  deffunct  Francois  Sau- 
cier, ingenieur  pour  le  Eoy,"  &c.,  of  the  second  part,  with  consent  of 
her  mother,  Sieur  Pierre  Girardot,  her  appointed  guardian,  of  Dame 
Magdeliene  Loiselle  Girardot,  her  aunt.  Demoiselle  Felicite  Saucier 
her  sister,  and  Sieur  Baptiste  Saucier  her  brother.  Parties  and  wit- 
nesses all  signed  in  presence  of  Viault  Lesperance,  Notary. 

In  Collet's  "Index"  to  the  old  Cahokia  marriage  register  the  fol- 
lowing are  the  only  Sauciers  recorded : 

Baptiste  Saucier  married  Marie  Josephine  Belcour.     Before  1784. 

Francois  Saucier  married  Angelique  Roy  dit  Lapensee.  Before 
1787. 

Matthieu  Saucier  married  Catherine  Godin,  1788. 

Matthieu  Saucier  married  Josette  ChatiUon,  Sept.  8,  1812. 

fils  du  Baptiste  Saucier  fille  du  Francois  Chatillon. 

et  Marie  Josephine  Belcour  et  Margaret  Lachaine. 

And  all  of  them  enumerated  in  the  census  of  Cahokia  in  1787  are  :* 
Matthieu  Saucier ;  Matthieu  son  fils ;  Francois  Saucier  pere ;  Charle  son 
fils ;  Bte  Saucier  pere ;  Jean  Baptiste  son  fils ;  Matthieu  son  fils. 

The  three  heads  of  families  here  named,  brothers,  Baptiste,  Mat- 
thieu, and  Francois  Saucier,  were  quite  prominent  in  the  public  affairs 
of  Cahokia  and  vicinity  during  the  latter  part  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury, all  three  serving  for  some  time  as  Justices  of  the  district  court,  f 
Matthieu  and  Francois  Saucier  "founded  the  village  of  Portage  des 
Sioux  in  Upper  Louisiana,";]:  and  for  many  years  were  successful  traders 
there. 

The  writer  of  this  sketch  was  for  many  years  intimately  acquainted 
with  Matthieu  Saucier,  (my  mother's  uncle),  son  of  above  named  Bap- 
tiste Saucier.  He  was  born  at  Cahokia  in  1782,  married  Josette  Cha- 
tillon dit  Godin  in  1812,  and  died  at  Prairie  du  Pont  in  1863,  at  the 
age  of  81.  He  was  a  very  intelligent,  quiet  and  unassuming  gentle- 
man, with  but  limited  education,  and  only  traditional  knowledge  of  his 
ancestral  genealogy.  All  that  he  knew  of  his  grandfather  was  that  he 
came  from  the  Loir  district  in  France,  and  had  been  an  army  officer  at 
Fort  Chartres.  He  believed  him  to  have  been  the  Francois  Saucier 
mentioned — as  quoted  in  this  Note — in  the  Journal  de  la  Guerre  du 
Mississippi  en  1739,  etc.,  as  the  "ingeneur"  who  led  a  detacbm,ent  of 
"Arcauzas"  and  a  few  Canadians  on  the  route  taken  by  d'  Artaguiette 
against  the  Chickasaws  in  1736 ;  and,  in  Hamilton's  Colonial  Mobile, 
as  a  "sub  engineer  in  1751;"  and  the  inference  of  his  death  prior  to 
1760  from  the  registry  of  marriage  of  his  widow,  in  July,  1761,  to 
Alexandre  du  Clos,  in  which  he  is  alluded  to  as  a  retired  (reforme) 
lieutenant  and  engineer  at  Fort  Chartres.  That  lieutenant  Saucier 
evidently  was  in  the  King's  military  service  on  the  Mississippi  at  quite 

*  Collections   of  the   Illinois   State   Historical   Library.     Vol.    II.     Cahokia    Rec- 
ords.    C.  W.  Alvord.      19  07,  p.  624   et  seq. 
t  Cahokia   Records.     Alvord,    1907. 
t  Reynolds'  Pioneer  History  of  Illinois,  p.   28G. 


263 

an  early  day,  and  probably  served  as  an  engineer  in  the  building  of  the 
first  Fort  Chartres,  and  perhaps  of  the  second  Fort  also. 

In  1737  there  was  a  Jean  Baptiste  Saucier  at  Prairie  du  Kocher, 
of  whom  nothing  is  now  known,  and  who  is  supposed  to  have  come  to 
America  with  Renault  in  1721. 

It  is  learned  from  the  St.  Anne  parish  records  that  "le  Sieur  Jean 
B.  Saucier,  ingenieur^',  was  at  Fort  Chartres  in  February,  1752. 

Eeynolds  says,  "in  1756,  Jean  Baptiste  Saucier,  a  French  officer 
at  Fort  Chartres,  and  married  in  that  country.  After  the  country  was 
ceded  to  Great  Britain  in  1763,  he  located  himself  and  family  in  Caho- 
kia  where  he  died.  He  had  three  sons :  Jean  B.,  Matthieu,  and  Francois 
Saucier,  who  were  popular  and  conspicuous  characters  in  early  times 
in  Illinois."* 

Edward  G.  Mason  states — in  his  Kaskashia  and  its  Parish  Records. 
Chicago,  1881.  p.  18.— ''On  May  22d,  1806,  (occurred)  the  marriage 
of  Pierre  Menard,  widower,  and  Angelique  Saucier,  granddaughter  of 
Jean  B.  Saucier,  once  a  French  officer  at  Fort  Chartres,  who  resigned 
and  settled  in  the  Illinois  country.'" 


•  Pioneer  History  of  lUinois,   2d  Ed.,  Chicago.     1887,  p.  286. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS-URBANA 

BS2553SN1920  C001 

CAPTAIN  JOHN  BAPTISTE  SAUCIER. 


30 


025408987 


